How The Wolf Howls
by Mistrunner
Summary: A old story of mine saved from Fanlib - There are rumours of a lightning demon, but its nothingmore then a rumor right? you would be serprised what was left after the storm.
1. Chapter 1: A demon and a unmarked grave

This is my first fanflic that i saved from Fanlib (RIP fanlib)

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Rumours of a lightning demon had already started to spread throughout the village, the idea of one rolled through Kakashi's mind as he oversaw team 7's training "Just something some kid started" he concluded to himself as he turned his attention back to the book in his hands, but his mind lingered on one question.

"What if?"

"Morning Sakura, Sasuke." Naruto yawned as he approached the bridge that Team 7 normally meet at.

"Morning" Sakura replayed, seeming as sleepy as Naruto was.

"Did that storm keep you up too?."

She nodded "it's strange there was no rain, only thunder and lightning."

"Good morning you three." Kakashi appeared with his normal smile on his masked face.

"YOU'RE LATE!!." Naruto yelled pointing as his sensei

"The storm last night kept me awake, so I ended up over sleeping."

"THAT'S A LIE!!."

"Quite idiot" Sasuke said in his normal cold manner "you only just got here as well."

Naruto dropped his arm to his side and sighed.

"Well let's get going, today we will be training in the woods just outside of the village."

With a grumble from Naruto they set off, Before long they reached the area that Kakashi had picked out the day before, The trees were dense in this area, perfect for seeing how their tree top fighting skills were, Kakashi gave them their task: to try and get a hit on his shadow replication, but they had to keep to the trees at all times.

The day wore on but no-one was able to hit the target. Naruto had managed to fall out of the trees twice. Something caught Kakashi's eye, his replication stopped moving and followed the gaze of the real one. Sakura and Sasuke took note of this change and stopped turning to their sensei, Naruto took this as his chance and buried his kunai deep into the copy.

"Yahhh! I did it woooo I… Sensei?."

"Kakashi-sensei what's wrong?." Sakura asked

Without a word he dropped down to the forest floor. There was a scorch mark near the bottom of one of the trees, "This was not here yesterday". He touched the blackened bark it slowly flaking away under his fingertips, "A lighting strike from last nights storm?" He looked up. Nothing was marked in the slightest " a fire element jutsu then?" but that answer did not sit right with him, something was very odd about it.

"What's wrong sensei?" Naruto asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

He glanced over his shoulder at his students, then turned back to the tree. He scratched some more of the charred wood off "what the hell did this?" He sniffed at the air, his eyes opened wide when he caught a whiff of the smell, not of burnt wood, but of burnt flesh and hair. He stood up abruptly.

"Stay on your guard and follow me."

They slowly and quietly made there way to a clearing, Kakashi was the first to set eyes on it, blackened and twisted horribly out of form. He went to move to use his body to block the sight of it from his students, but it was too late. They looked sick with the sight of the thing and the smell was almost unbearable.

"Stay here." Kakashi kept his voice came

Keeping his guard up he slowly approached the charred mass, noting more scorch marks around the area. Kneeling by it he tried to find something that would identify the body in some way, he could find nothing he recognised. He could not event tell gender it was so bad, save for a thin chain around its neck with a small metal tag. Something imprinted in it, it looked like a word but Kakashi could not make it out.

"S- Sensei!" Naruto's voice stuttered

He got up and slowly backed away from the corpse, his eye darting around the clearing.

"Naruto?"

"What is that!" he pointed to the other side of the clearing

Kakashi followed Naruto's line of sight and cursed himself that he did not see it himself, A black form nestled in a hollow of a tree stirred a rattle like someone shaking a chain link fence. it echoed across the clearing followed by a low growl like thunder, slowly like a waking nightmare it unfolding its limbs it was human in shape, dragging itself from the shadows they got a clear look at it.

It was human in shape yes, but that was the only human thing about it. Tattered and mud encrusted clothes clung to its body its skin covered thick with scars and large metal spines proctoring out of its arms back and legs. The metallic rattle sounded again as its spines shuddered followed by a bright flash and a pop as two touched the air started to hum and buzz around it, eyes narrowing on the group of ninjas, an evil grin slid across its lips.

"What the hell is that?" panic started to seep into Naruto's voice

"A demon" Kakashi said coolly kunai now in hand "get back all of you, I don't know how strong it is"

The monster shouted something, he could not make out the words but he did not need to, the voice was so filled with hate its intent was clear. With another rattle and a pop it went to make its move but only mange two steps before stopping, something alerted it to its right. It turned and headed away from the group as fast as it could.

When it was out of sight Kakashi took a small sigh of relief, to bad it was cut short, charging into the clearing was a group of fighters, they had entered where the demon was alerted to, there was six in all five male and one female, there all dressed the same black and dark green with there hair cut short, it was clear cut to see that they where a team, but from where? Kakashi did not see any headbands displaying what village they where from.

The group looked ready for a fight, but it seems that they where looking for something, some words where said but he did not understand any of it.

"Sensei who are they?." Sakura whispered

"We are no one, and should be forgotten." the female of the group said

Team 7 now had the bigger groups full attention they had sheathed any weapons and looked at them indifferently.

"Forget about us and about this day." the female said, her voice void of any emotion.

"Tell us! What was that demon!?." Naruto yelled out of place

The group went all-sharp at the mention of a demon.

"You are just seeing things boy, there's no such things as demons," the female said

"No" Kakashi said he had lowed his kunai but it still remained firmly in his grasp " I saw it too."

"Three kids and their babysitter I think we can take them." a burly man whispered to the female, she shot him a glare.

"OK, if you did see a demon where did it go to?" the big man grinned at them he spoke with an ancient similar to the females " I don't see one around here."

"Why should we tell you?." Naruto said crossing his arms over his chest.

The big man growled and went to advance but was stopped by the female, "she must be there leader", Kakashi thought.

"Okami!" one of the men yelled and the female responded

"Finally a name" one of the men was kneeling by the charred corpse. The others wandered over to him again. Words that Kakashi could not understand were said, but as he watched them he understood, a small wave of distress passed over the group briefly along with the word "Sprinter". He understood clearly now, the charred husk was there former team mate Sprinter and the metal tag had his name on it written in there home language.

"These are western people from over the vast sea." he wispered to his students

"Western people?." Sakura blinked at him

Kakashi nodded

"Very good," the female, Okami said to them " we are indeed from western lands, but now please, where did the demon go?"

"What demon?" Sasuke said with a sly grin on his lips "There's no such thing as demons."

The big man growled again but a look from Okami stopped him from doing anything more, she said something to a blindfolded team-mate with a nod he slowly started to feel the air about him.

"The demon is OUR responsibility, our only reason for existing is to bring it down," Okami said; a new weight in her voice now.

The blind man stopped and pointed to where the demon had ran too, she gave them the order to move out.

"HAY! HAY! Don't you run away from us!." Naruto yelled, bursting past his sensei running after the other group

Kakashi sighed and ran after him.

"Idiot!." Sasuke spat as he and Sakura followed

"Hay, Okami, the kids and their babysitter are following us," the big man yelled to the leader

"You know the orders!, no innocent live should be caught up with our mission!, smoke them."

With a bemused grin the man pulled a metal can out of his pouch he pulled a pin with his teeth and threw the cylinder over his shoulder clearing the group. It bounced and rolled before coming to rest in Naruto's path.

He was mid step when it went off. Grey smoke engulfed him stopping him dead in his tracks he covered his nose and mouth to not breathe anything in but his eyes stung like they where on fire.

he could not keep them open. He felt a tug on the back of his jacket as Kakashi pulled him out, he coughed and his eyes where watering from the smoke.

"What is that?, poison?."

"No, just a deterrent, they don't want us following them." Kakashi said as he pat Naruto on the back "its unpleasant but harmless."

The big group was moving with speed now, hoping to catch up to the lightning demon, Okami was on point, just behind her was the blind man and the big guy that was itching for combat.

"Okami! The trees!." one man yelled from the back.

She looked up to see figures moving from branch to branch " damn these guys are persistent", she gave them the order to hold. Kakashi jumped out in front of them whilst Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura stood behind the group. Okami approached the Jounin, Kakashi put his hand behind his head casually and smiled at her.

"Go back to your home, Ninja, this is not your fight." her eyes focused on the man in front of her "I see now that order #2 got broken the moment they crossed paths with him"

"Anything that threatens are village is are fight!." Sasuke said

"I see that" Okami closed her eyes "Fine, follow if you want answers" she looked back over her group "MOVE OUT!."

"ROGER!." the team barked in unison

They set off again Kakashi kept by Okami's side his students were in the middle of the group now, within hearing range of the two leaders.

"Our questions are simple" Kakashi explained, "Who are you and what are you doing here?."

"We are Team DH-A44, put simply we are a Demon Hunter team, that lightning demon was being kept by my people, but it escaped somehow and made its way to your lands." she stopped for a moment to check with the blindfolded man that they where still heading in the right way.

"And your mission is to kill it?." Kakashi asked

Okami nodded "We have been trained to take him down it is our only reason for being, its him or us!."

Kakashi glanced over her team then asked, "Is it normal for your teams to be of such large numbers?" he was curious about this demon hunter team.

"We were 15 strong when we first set out, the demon, who we have nicknamed 'Dry storm' has already killed off 8 of my comrades including our leader."

"8!?" Naruto yelled " And you're still willing to go up against him?."

"Yes!." her reply was sharp and sure

The conversion in the group of westerners was overwhelming. They were openly willing to lay down there lives to stop this monster.

"Now" Okami said eyeing up Kakashi " it's your turn, who are you?."

"I am Kakashi, the sensei of this team, the golden haired boy is Naruto, the dark haired boy is Sasuke and the girl is Sakura."

Okami nodded and gave him a small smile " pleasure to meet you Kakashi, I am Okami the big man is Brawler, the one with the blindfold is Radar, the others are Dagger, Hunter and Guard"

"And I'm sorry about gassing your team, we have orders to keep any innocent lives out of this if possible, we have been luring him away from your village for days now"

Kakashi looked surprised " you found our village?"

"Yes, but unfortunately, so has he" Okami kept her voice low "but you need not worry my friend, we will kill him before any harm can come to you, and he will kill us before we can breathe a word about your home."

Something in her words made him shiver, where they expecting to get killed? Yet here they were rushing headlong into battle and death, she put up a arm and Team DH-A44 stopped dead, so did Team 7, they could feel it, the way the air was heavy and seemed to hum with excitement the smell that could only be described as burnt ozone field there senses, he was here!

"Kakashi protect your team, do not join in the battle, only my team and I can handle his attacks" Okami meet his eye "I will not have you or your fellows injured whilst I still have blood in my veins!"

That familiar rattle sounded along with a small pop as the demon charged out its form hunched over, the group scatted only to reform behind it they shouted something as it in there home language, taunting it away so it would pay no interest to the ninjas, Kakashi took this as his cue and moved his group away.

"Sensei! We are not going to run away are we!?" Sakura asked

"No" Kakashi pushed them into some underbrush "we are going to watch, if they fail it will be up to us to kill that thing, but we first gather information about it if we have a hope of winning" he looked back to the demon hunter's leader "don't die Okami"

"Ok now! Attack! Aim for his left collar bone!" Okami ordered

They circled the demon, weapons in hand. Radar and Guard had long whips ready. Brawler, Dagger and Hunter had daggers. Okami was going to use her fists. With a nod from their leader they attacked. Radar and Guard got there whips around the monsters arms, it could not move. Brawler, Dagger and Hunter charged in leaping over the demon as they attacked, Kakashi reviled his Sharngen to get a better look at there movements, they where all attacking the exact same spot "such pin point accuracy such team work!" The flesh around the collar bone now weaken by her team mates attacks, Okami rushed in and landed and sturdy blow.

A menacing cackle filled the air " IS THAT IT? IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE? ARE YOU THE ONLY DOGS LEFT?" the demon roared.

Energy bolted from spine to spine before lighting jolted from the demon to strike the ground where Okami was standing only moments before. Trashing about and sending bots of energy around wildly it managed to repel its attackers. Kakashi's eye allowed him to see the energy like chakra the monster was all most bursting with it, like its temper this energy was wild and out of control.

The monster lashed out, it was like being in a storm, the lightning was blinding and the thunder was relentless and shook the ground with each boom. They peered throw the blinding light as the fight struggled on both parties relentless in there attacks. It was unreal in there attacks they where totally deferent people but they way they landed there attacks, it was like a Jounin using shadow replication, suddenly all of Kakashi's talks about team work hit home.

Suddenly a roar mixed with a boom of thunder, filled there ears followed by a blinding flash left them unable to see or hear for a few moments. When there senses returned, Team DH-A44 where down, the demon gone, Kakashi covered his eye and rushed out to them.

"Stay back!, don't touch us!" Okami gasped out, She was on her hands and knees body trembling

"We got hit, by it's lighting, if you touch us now, you will get hit with enough energy to kill you 10 times over!" Okami looked over her group "no dead at least that's something"

"How are you still alive then?" Sasuke scowled

"Our training," she growled "the energy is draining from us now and dispersing into the ground. We will be fine in a bit"

After about 20 minutes they where able to move there bodies again. Okami ordered Radar to get back to tracking Dry storm. The team would not rest.

"This is how he got away from us last time, his power has grown sinse he escaped" Okami explained using the time well that it was taking Radar to pick up the demon's trail.

"Let me ask you, if me and my men fail, if we die before we have slain the demon Dry Storm", she locked eyes with Kakashi "can I count on your people to do what we could not?"

Kakashi's only replay was a slow nod

"Thank you" her voice was soft "the demon's power is simple electricity he can absorb it, any thing from small generators to lightning itself and stores it under his skin, his body is a battery, the only outlet is the metal spines"

"His skin" she continues "is thick you will have a hard time cutting through, it is weaker around his neck and collar bones, the area we were aiming for, but weaker still is his eyes… and one more thing, kill him with range your people will not be able to take his attacks like we can."

"Is there anyway that we can drain him?." Kakashi asked

Okami nodded "Yes but its risky, embedding all of his spines into something that is grounded will cause his power to flow out of him and disperse into the earth, like the way we recovered from his attack, but that will take time there would be no way to keep him there long enough to deplete him".

Radar called to Okami, he had gotten the trail, Dry storm, the lightning demon was heading straight to Konoha the village hidden in the leaves.

The demon had already smashed through the outer wall on the village, but was going to further due to the ninjas. He had not killed any yet, they where keeping there distance, but where making no headway in driving the monster out.

Kakashi got to the village before any of the others. He told the other ninjas to stay back, and that he had no time to explain. Okami and her group rushed past the village ninjas and took their positions around the demon.

"Noble people of Konoha" Okami shouted to all present "please forgive us and this demand I make on you, this demon is OUR responsibility we are charged with the mission of taking its life, as long as one of my team is left standing, do not interfere"

"SCROUNGING DOGS!, PATHETIC MONGRELS!" the demon cursed the team

"Your fight is with us!, not these people they have done nothing to incur your wrath!" Okami said to the demon her voice unnaturally bland.

"I… WILL…. KILL…. EVERYONE…. UNTIL…. THE…. PAIN…STOPS!!" he roared

There was a crackle as lightning arced from one of his arm spines towards Okami she managed to jump out of the way in time Radar had managed to get his whip around the demon's left arm, Guard went to get the right but then.

"DO YOU TAKE ME FOR A MINDLESS FOOL!?"

A bolt went out towards Guard, he could not move as fast as the others, he hunkered down and took the hit full on he let out a small cry of pain, but did not falter he swung his whip around for another go.

"DIE DIE DIE DIE!!"

Things where getting mad fast, every spine was arcing its deadly intent into the ground, there was no way they could not get in close without getting shocked, Guard has done his job and restrained the demons other arm.

"Left eye!" Okami's words were clear

They rushed in, set on taking his eye, ignoring the piercing embrace of the lightning. As they got near him pain meant nothing, this was going to be there last fight with Dry Storm. With the bladed attacks done, Okami readied herself to brake his eye. She ignored the pain shooting through her body as her fist hit its mark.

Everyone was thrown back as the lightning and thunder became more intense. They had wounded him, but not stopped him, Guard and Radar throw down there weapons as the leather court on fire. The others cursed when they realised that there blades where warped by the heat of the lightning strike, Okami had the wind nocked out of her as she struggled to regain her breath.

"Shit, the full force of are attacks was not able to get through"

But then a small glimmer of hope came to them, the demon was clutching its face and blood was seeping throw its fingers. Blood!, but that small spark died as quickly as it appeared, they had no way of restraining him for a clear attack, if he could get his arms up, they would not be able to brake through the shield of lightinng he can make.

They all looked at each other what they had to do next was clear cut as day. They where no longer completing a mission forced upon them. They where demon slayers, they where doing to save Konoha from this threat even throw it was not there place too they now, in there last moments of life, had something to defend.

Okami backed up to Kakashi " I need your blade." with out a word he handed her his kunai

Everyone watched wide eyed as they throw themselves at the demon impaling themselves on his spines. Brawler on its back holding its head still, Guard and Radar on his arms with Hunter and Dagger on his legs. Almost unbearable amounts of energy was being passed through there bodies. Kunai in hand Okami charged in aiming for the eye. She barred it deep, feeling the tip scratch the back of the skull. It was done, the team braced themselves for there oncoming fate.

In that moment everything slowed down for them. The minutes seemed like hours. Okami looked at her men, she was not appointed leader from there officials nor after there true leader passed away, was she next in line, yet they followed her anyway, Why? As her vision faded to white, she felt something pushing her away, then it came, with the demons death all of its energy was released in a blast.

The team was sent flying. Kakashi managed to catch Okami, but the others where tossed like rag dolls, spines still imbedded in there bodies. Okami saw it all, there bodies and that of the demon's before her vision slowly left her.

Kakashi was pretending to read his book as he sat in the hospital room; he had asked for this mission himself, Team 7 was to watch over Okami.

" How long has it been now?" Sakura asked her chin resting on her palms

"3 days now" Kakashi said, turning a page "She should wake up soon, her breathing is steady the fight just took it out of her"

Naruto was arguing with Sasuke again, well it was a one sided argument Sasuke was just ignoring him.

"Naruto quite down, this is a hospital"

"And here I was thinking that ninjas where silent" Okami's voice was horse.

Kakashi told Sakura to go and inform the Hokage, Okami slowly sat up finding her body stiff, Kakashi handed her a glass of water she took it and sipped at it knowing not to drink to fast.

"Your at Konoha hospital" Kakashi told her be fore she even said anything

"What of the others?"

"Im sorry, they are all dead"

Okami flinched with the news Kakashi slid a hand onto her shoulder to comfort her

"And the demon?"

"He is dead too"

She save a small sigh and relaxed a bit "So its finally over"

It was not long before Sakura returned with two masked ninjas and the Hokage. The old man smiled at Okami. She met his eyes and smiled in return though her heart was heavy with the death of her friends.

"Greetings Okami, I am the Hokage, the leader of this village"

Okami bowed as well as her body allowed her too " I am honoured, im guessing you have come to find out about me and all that has happened"

The old man nodded.

"Then sit, my tail is long and chilling but I are more then willing to tell it"

Kakashi gave the Hokage his char, as everyone started to settle she wondered where to begin

"The people I.. use to work fore… where a secretive lot. I was an orphan, so was all of my team mates. When we where still only children they adopted us, they gave us a home, and something to call a family" she closed her eyes as drifting off back into a memory.

"But it was all a lie.. From the start it was gruelling and unyielding training they only wanted us for bodyguards, you see the people that had taken us in, where not good men, are job was to protect and serve, without question"

"Where they the ones to summon the demon?" Naruto asked

"Summon?" she could not help but smile "You could say that, you see that demon was a man"

"A- a man?!" Naruto stutter

Okami nodded "yes, he was experimented on, they where trying to find way to improve the human body, to tern a man into a pure weapon of unbelievable power, the pain of it all was to much for a human to bare, he went insane and soon be came the monster you know"

"Wh… why would anyone want to do something like that?!"

"I often asked myself that" she sighed "But I never asked anyone who could answer me. I ignored it as best as i could, and tried to shut it away, it was none of my concern. That was till he escaped, that's when I truly felt the evil of the men I was protecting"

She lifted up her right arm and with her left hand she dug her fingernails into the skin a flicker of anger flashed into her eyes.

"No one was safe from their evil, not even people like me," she said as she tore into the flesh

Everyone was shocked by this act of self injury, she pulled at the skin but it dawned on them that it was not real skin the rubber like materiel starched before ripping with a tug. She pulled the fake skin off of her forearm and hand like a glove, she did the same to her left arm, hiding under that rubbery skin was metal. She lifted up her arms so they could get a good look from fingertip to just above her elbow was covered with metal.

"THEY TOOK YOUR ARMS!?" Naruto yelled

"Yes and no, there is still flesh, bone and blood under them, but the metal has been fused to my flesh, I can no longer feel anything, but it does not stop there, they put armor inside my body to protect my internal organs from attacks, like the demon's lightning" she balled her hands into fists "everyone was altered someway, we all got the armor, but only me and two others got the arms, as the only way to kill the monster was with a combo of cutting and crushing attacks".

"How did you feel after that?" the Hokage asked

"Betrayed, I gave them everything I had, and in return they gave me pain and mutilated my body"

"Was this your 'training' that you talked about?" Kakashi asked keeping his voice low

She nodded

"Now with the demon dead, your mission is over, how do you plan on returning?" the Hokage asked

She smiled " I don't, the mission here was a code black, meaning anyone who was sent on it was as good as dead, if I returned I would just be killed.. But" her mood seemed to sadden more as a memory of an old friend came to light.

"The mission I was first tasked with and the one I have just finished are different, our group leader who was called Nightshade, was gravely injured, he loved us all, and hand picked us for this task."

"The man that loved you picked you out to die?" Sakura said with a hint of confusion

"No it's not that" Okami added, "he wanted us to have a better life then what was forced upon us. He took the mission and us, with plans of killing the monster himself and to let us live a life free from there evil"

She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them her image changed, all the torment she had gone throw over the past years became apparent.

"But he underestimated how strong he was, a lot happened along the way but we made the mission our own, for our own reasons we could of backed out at any time, but we did not"

"What was your new mission?"

The look in Okami's eyes, was the same look Kakashi saw out in the wood just a few days ago. "To protect the people of this land from him. We where not allowed to embrace the concept of love, or friendship back where we use to call home, but soon after coming here we did. Our friendship gave us a new strength, it made us stronger then we could ever become back working for the man."

She looked up at the Hokage "can I ask you something?."

He nodded.

"Where are the bodes of my friends?."

A warming smile appeared on his lips. "They are barred here, they gave there lives defending are village."

"Then I have a request."

"Hmm?."

"We made a pact with each other, out home would be where the others where. If most of my friends are buried here, I would like to make Konoha my home," she bowed her head, "if you will allow it."

He stood up the warm smile still on his face "Team 7 will look after you, and teach you all you need to know about us" Okami lifted her head her heart lifted too when she met the old man's eyes, "Welcome to Konoha".

It was a few days before Okami had healed enough to be let out of the hospital. Kakashi took her to the graves of her friends. She kneeled by them, talked to them, and thanked them for pushing her away before the demon exploded, that saved her life. She stood up when she was done Kakashi put his arm around her to comfit her. He knew the pain she was feeling all to well, she hold onto the back of his jacket, too tightly its was like she would fall into oblivion if she let go.

"Lets go home, Okami".


	2. Chapter 2: Shadows of the past

It has been a year since Okami first came to Konoha, a year since the death of the demon and her comrades. It had been a long year, but Okami was fitting in well, she was now a full fledged ninja of Konoha but was still with Team 7, and Kakashi was still watching over her.

It was a bright autumn morning as Okami looked down at the water she was standing on, chakra was still a new thing to her, but she had been training hard under Kakashi and was doing well. Her thoughts tracked back over the year as her fingers played with the wrappings on her arms; she kept her metal arms covered at all times now, against the will of her friends.

"HAY OKAMI!" Naruto yelled as he waved to her.

"Good morning Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura." she replayed as she made her may on to the solid ground of the training area.

"Where is Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura sighed.

"It's funny," Okami grinned, "I have been living with Kakashi and I always get here before him, we left his place together."

"Good morning all." Kakashi appeared on one of the posts.

"YOU'RE LATE!!" Naruto pointed and yelled at him.

"Sorry," he scratched the back of his head and smiled, "you see I lost Okami so I went looking for her and..."

"THAT'S A LIE!" Naruto yelled again, arm still pointed at Kakashi.

"Okami has been here with us for an hour now." Sakura crossed her arms over her chest.

"Anyway sensei, you used that excuse last week," Okami said as a sly grin crossed her lips, "you should give it more time before using it again."

Sasuke stayed quite only wanting to get today's training started. Kakashi reached into his pocket and pulled out 3 small bells.

Naruto slumped his shoulders. "Not this one again, we all ready did it" he groaned.

"True you have, but we have one more team member now, and I want to see how your teamwork is."

With the sound of the bells ringing in their ears the team retreated back into the woods. Sakura and Okami jumped up into the tress, whilst the boys stayed in the underbrush and separated themselves. When they where out of sight Kakashi attached the small bells to his belt and pulled out his book.

It was not long before the teamwork training had turned into the normal competition between Naruto and Sasuke. Okami told Sakura to stay with her, over the past year the two had become like sisters and worked well together, they sat up in a tree with a good view of Naruto's and Sasuke's attempts on Kakashi.

"Naruto that idiot." Sakura grumbled.

"Idiots, don't forget. Sasuke is going on his own as well." Okami added.

"Don't talk about Sasuke like that!!" Sakura had to stop her self from yelling

"why does she always get like that?" but that was not important at the moment, so she pushed it to the back of her mind. "You know as well as me that the only way to get him is by going as a team."

Sakura dropped her chin into her hand. "There's no way we can talk to them from here."

"No, there is a way." Okami made a seal with her hands as she gathered chakra. "Something Kakashi-sensei showed me, I can speak into their minds for a short time." she explained.

"Naruto, Sasuke will you two stop for a bit we need to…"

But she was cut off as she had to avoid a kunai.

"Shit." Okami grabbed Sakura's arm as she moved them around to another tree.

"What happened?" She gasped as they came to rest on another tree.

"I'm still learning how to use the technique right, it allows me to talk into the minds of any who know me or I can listen into the thoughts of any in a small area to me, if used right, but", Okami sighed quietly.

"But?"

"As I said I'm still learning it. A side effect from it is anyone I'm talking to knows where I am, I was not able to shield myself from Kakashi-sensei, he picked it up and found out my location." Okami's eyes narrowed as she watched Sasuke go in for another try.

"Then," Sakura smiled, "how about we do the teamwork?"

Okami raised an eyebrow as a sly grin found its way on to her pink haired friends lips. "What other techniques have you picked up from Kakashi-sensei?"

Okami suddenly felt very worried.

"Damn you!" Naruto growled as he pulled himself out of the water.

"Leave him to us Naruto!" Sakura yelled as Okami charged in.

Keeping her body low and arms back Okami rushed in. She did not flinch as she heard Sakura's shuriken fly past her ear. Kakashi caught them with ease. Okami grappled Kakashi's arm swinging on him, but she could do no more then turn him around. Kakashi twisted his arm about and grabbed her belt and brutally slammed her into the ground, with a puff of white jutsu smoke a log laid where Okami was thrown. He looked around thinking where she would attack from next.

Sakura threw another barrage of shrunkens, and again Kakashi easily caught them. He went to turn but found he could not move his left leg. Looking down he saw a hand coming out of the earth and grappled his ankle.

"I see, very good" he said to himself.

Okami pulled him under, but he stopped when he sank as far as the top of his legs. Coming out of the ground behind him Okami grabbed his wrists and held his arms behind his back, her metal hands where a great advantage to her like this. Her grip was almost impossible to break, and she has used head-hunter jutsu to sink him so he could not easily use a replacement to get out.

Sakura quietly grabbed the small bells off him. She handed one to Naruto and Sasuke. With a sigh Okami let go of Kakashi and pulled herself out.

"Very good you two," Kakashi laughed as he pulled himself free, "but Okami, as you have no bell its your turn on the post."

He looked at the group, Sakura and Naruto were helping Okami to her feet. He knew he would have to tie her to one of the posts as she had failed to get a bell, but something told him deep inside that he could not do that to her. He tried to hide the smile that was trying to spread across his face.

Kakashi stood up and brushed himself down. "Well I think that will be it for the day, we have mission tomorrow so I want all of you to rest up."

Naruto skipped off happily, excited about tomorrow's mission. Sasuke wondered off with Sakura following trying to get him to go somewhere with her. Okami sat back down and sighed, relieved that she would forgo being tied up. Kakashi ran his finger through her hair getting out the small clumps of dirt. Her hair was white and dark grey and seemed to have an odd marking to it that always reminded him of a wolf's fur. "Must be why she was named Okami."

"You know Naruto or Sasuke should have been with out a bell, but well done with that technique, you are really getting the hang of it." He put his hands in his pockets and started to walk away.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

Early next morning Okami was ready to go but was just hanging around in Kakashi's apartment. Ever since she had come to Konoha she had lived with her sensei, as he was tasked with looking after her. And ever since then, when it was time for training or a mission with Team 7, she had shown up on time but he would be up to an hour late, but not today.

"Is something wrong Okami?" Kakashi asked, notarising that she would of normally left by now.

"You could say that." She grinned.

"Oh?"

"You have always turned up late," she said as she wandered over to where he was sitting on the couch, "but today I'm determined to get you to there on time, or at least show up with you."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but never looked up from the book in his hands. She leaned over placing a hand on the back of the seat and with the over blocked the page he was reading. She found herself struggling to keep her body from shaking, she did not know why she felt this nervous so close to him, she just pinned it to the fact she had never been so brazen with his personal space before.

His lone eye looked up at her. "Ok, but on one condition."

"Name it."

He tapped the back of her hand. "You have to show your arms for the day."

She frowned at him, he knew she did not like her steel arms showing, but... "Ok. Deal."

She folded up her sleeves and slipped off her gloves, slowly she took off the wrappings underneath, when she was done she nodded towards the door.

"Shall we?"

Kakashi stood up and slipped his book into his pocket. "Let's go."

To her surprise he did not try to slip away from her as they where making their way to the meeting point, nor did he try and delay in anyway, and even more shocking was that they were the first ones there. Kakashi leaned against one of the railings on the bridge and began reading his book. Okami leaned up against the one opposite him.

Kakashi briefly looked up from his book at her, he could not help but smile, he hated when she covered up her dark steel arms. She said it was because they made people uneasy, and he would always tell her it was because she was uneasy about them.

His train of thought was interrupted when he heard a male scream followed by a small thud, he looked to see Naruto, who had fallen on his ass from shock, he was pail and wide eyed.

"Y-Y-YOU'RE! YOU'RE!"

"On time." Sasuke finished him off.

"It happens from time to time" Kakashi said as he closed his book. "Today's mission is D-Rank, our task is to find a bracelet that was lost just somewhere beyond the towns walls."

When they were at Konoha's gates Kakashi showed them a small map that had some areas marked out. "This is the route the client took on the day they lost them item, we are to thoroughly search this route and the surrounding area until we find it."

With a nod from his students they set out taking their time. Okami looked out from the tree she was standing in trying to find any sense of where it could be. They knew it could be anywhere by now if an animal happened to pick it up. She noted that Kakashi was sitting in a tree not to far from her reading his book, he was moving along with the team but was not really helping in looking. It was not long before she realized that she was staring at him. She tore her gaze away from him but found it wanting to wander back.

"what the hell is going on?" she shook her head "is this some sort of jutsu?"

Jumping out of the tree, she landed in the middle of the road. She looked around thinking where she had looked and where her friends were looking, then something walking down the road caught her eye.

"Ahhhrg this is going to take forever… eh… Okami?" Naruto said, walking out of the brush towards his team-mate.

Okami was wide eyed and looking very pale, her body was trembling.

"What's wrong Okami?" Naruto looking down the road he could see three men walking towards them but he could not make much out.

"I-It just cant be!" Okami stuttered.

"Hay! HAY! Snap out of it!" He waved a hand in front of her but she still remained frozen.

"What's wrong Naruto?" The others had come over to see what he was making a racket about.

"Sensei! Something is wrong with Okami!" He yelled as he waved his arms about, hoping that somehow it would help.

Kakashi looked up the road "Who is it Okami?"

"I-it's" her voice was almost a whisper, "Sprinter!"

"Eh? Who is Sprinter?"

"Naruto you idiot!" Sakura wisperd to him. "Remember when we first meet Okami? Sprinter was the blackened husk we ran into just before we meet her team."

The three men where in full view now, one was clad in camo gear and had short brown hair, one to his right was a short old man wearing a white suit and carrying a cane, and the last was a tall man in a dark grey suit. They stopped only a few feat away from them.

"Yo, Okami" the brown haired man smiled.

"Sprinter!" She pulled out a kunai. "You bastard!"

"Now now," a disappointed look crossed his face, "calling me names just for being alive? That's not a nice thing to do." Their was a mocking tone in his voice.

"That's enough Sprinter!" the old man barked.

"What's going on? Okami? Who are these men?" Naruto asked.

"Be quiet!" Okami growled.

"Oh, I'm sorry I should explain everything for your friends here," the old man smiled as he put both hands on top of his cane, "you see, Boy, I am here for Okami."

"Sprinter! You bastard! How? And why?" Okami growled again.

"My, my where have all your manners gone Okami?" The mocking tone still thick in his voice. "But despite that I'll answer," he smiled like this was all a game to him.

"I saw your corpse!"

"No, that was some poor fellow who happened to be wandering around at the time, you see my dear Okami, I had been planning on getting away from you merry band of fools when our true leader died, I burnt the corpse and put my name tag on it." He this a bit to frankly.

"Like a good boy he came back, even after a code black mission," the old man added, "it is true we normally would of killed him for such a thing, but when he said one of my..." he paused thinking of the right word, "failed experiments had lived I just had to come and see for myself."

Kakashi's eye narrowed "Failed experiment?"

The old man nodded. "Yes you see, a long time ago Okami was mortally wounded. She had lost a lot of blood, so on a whim I decided to run an experiment, instead of giving her a transfusion with just human blood, we used animal blood. The only thing that we had that was remotely compatible with he blood type was that from a grey wolf."

"You bastard!" This time it was Naruto that growled those words.

The old man laughed, "she was lucky her body did not reject the blood and we had high hopes for her, but it seems that only change that came out of it was her hair and her name."

"Is this true Okami?" Kakashi asked, his voice bland.

She hung her head as she tried to fight back the tears and the painful memories, her arms hung limply at her sides her kunai long fallen to the ground.

"But it's ok Okami," Sprinter said with a grin on his face, "you can come back if you want we can forget all about this and go back to the compound."

"Like she would ever go back with you!!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto," her voice was soft, "shut up."

Sprinter walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, Okami flinched under his touch. "We can kill these brats and the babysitter and you can come back with us."

A shudder ran throw her body. "Kill... Them?"

"Listen, Okami my dear," the old man smiled, "the drugs that we normally gave you would have all ran out of your body by now, you are probably feeling things that you don't understand, am I right?"

She did not reply.

"It's ok, I understand that this must be confusing for you right now, even maybe a bit frightening."

"Kill them?" Suddenly something snapped inside of her, her chakra flared up wildly as she grabbed Sprinter's wrist.

"If you even disturb the air around them!" She raised her head to meet Sprinter's gaze.

He was fear stricken with what he saw her eyes, that where normally blue, had turned gold and black, they where wolf eyes!

"I will gut you where you stand!"

She squeezed Sprinter's arms until she heard the snap of bone. In one swift move she pulled him towards her, let go of his arm and landed a punch square on his jaw, he went flying back and skidded into the legs of the tall man in the grey suit who promptly kicked him away.

"Oh my, now this is interesting," the old man chuckled, "but it's too little to late Okami, and we seem to have your answer, it's a pity, but I guess it can't be helped."

Okami turned to look at Kakashi who was now standing beside her, he gasped when he saw her new eyes.

"I'm sorry sensei, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura" her voice was harsh.

The man in grey stepped over Sprinter making his way towards them, pushing up his sleeves they could see that he has metal arms similar to Okami's.

"Let me fight this one" Okami said calmly as she caught his fist with her left hand like it was nothing.

She brought back her fight hand but did not ball it into a fist, she curled her fingers slightly channelling chakra into the tips. Blue wisps appeared and like moonlight dancing through trees started to form into something more solid. With one swift swipe she sliced open a gash from his left thigh to his right collar bone.

He staggered back clutching at his wound. "Do you like them?" Okami lifted her hand up so all could see her chakra had formed into claws at the end of her fingers, they had lost their blue tint and looked more like crystallized moonlight.

Sprinter had got up and made his way over to the old man. "Sir", he whispered, "we must leave." With a nod they turned to make their escape, but they ran into Kakashi. "Leaving so soon?" he asked, this single eye pining them down.

Sprinter went to make a move but was stopped by a kick to the face by Sasuke. Dazed he staggered about two more punches in his chest drove him towards a tree. He heard a kunai fly past his head, about to shout an insult about missing him, he felt something pull against his body as the wire tightened and held him against the tree.

Naruto had manage to pin down the old man using his shadow replications, Kakashi looked up to see Okami still fighting with the man in grey. She had open up many cuts on him with her new technique but he was still standing strong.

Okami ducked another blow and dug her claws into his stomach. She had been aiming for the same spot over and over again. Like her, he had internal amour but it was thicker than what she had known. Now that this new thing had come over her, her eyes where sharper and her movements faster, she knew he would die from blood loss now.

Something stirred inside her again, "we are not letting them get off that easy", a voice in the back of her mind growled. She diverted her attack from the stomach to the neck, a wet thunk and a whizzing gasp alerted her to her success, a wet snapping sound seemed to dominate the ears of all as Okami ripped his throat out.

His body fell lifeless to the dirt road, Okami dropped the hunk of meat, her face was plain, she looked back and fourth from Sprinter and the old man as if deciding on who was next. There was no feeling of murderess blood-lust coming from her, she was angry yes, but nothing more then that, but Kakashi knew this has to stop now.

Okami's wolven eyes locked onto the old man. She went to make a move, but here she stopped when her vision was blocked by the chest of a certain Jounin ninja. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders the mussels relaxed as the frenzied haze started to clear from her mind.

"Look at me Okami" his voice was clam yet commanding.

All most against her will she found her eyes moving up his body, it was not long before one of her eyes was locked with his stormy dark eye, and her other locked with his blood-red sharingan. She froze her body, no longer listening to her minds pleas to run, to turn her head away, or even to close her eyes, he flinched like something nipped him.

"K-Kakashi" her voice was barely higher then a whisper.

He smiled unworldly to himself as her eyes faded from the gold to the ice blue he had come to know, her fear was clear to him now, and he knew why the last time she had seen his eye, it was not a pretty sight when they ran into an A rank ninja who's name happened to be in the bingo book. The sharigan started to spin slowly, Okami found her legs go weak as they collapsed from under her but he did not let her fall. With the sleeping ninja in his arms he turned back to the rest of his team, the old man and Sprinter had been tied up.

With a nod from their sensei they headed back to the village.

Okami's eyes fluttered open, she was laying on the couch back in Kakashi's apartment her head was still spinning. She turned her head to look up at the ceiling.

"Yo."

Okami looked down her body at the brown pug sitting on her legs

"Pakkun" she smiled weakly at him

"How are you feeling?"

"I'll live" she said hesitantly as she pulled her self to sit upright. Her head was still spinning like she was in a whirlpool, "Where's Kakashi-sensei?"

"He is at the Hokage office" the pug replied as he jumped off her lap.

Before another word could be said between the two the door clicked and opened, the silver haired sensei walked in closing the door behind him and leaning up against it, his dark eye fixed on Okami.

"See ya." The pug disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

This must be bad, she had never known Pakkun to disappear like that, he would normally stay around to see what's going on. Kakashi walked over to her and kneeled down in front of her, taking her hands in his a smile broke on his face.

"The two from today are being interrogated as we talk, we are going to find out what they did to you and help you."

She had moved before she realised it putting her arms around him and holding him tightly in a hug, he could not help but giggle to himself as he returned her hug, this was a bit out of character for her but he could guess why.

"Tomorrow we will go and see them, ok?"

He felt her nod she still had her hold on him, but Kakashi did not mind, he was enjoying it though you would of never got him to admit it. Okami was still a mystery to him and one that was only deepening.

It was a cold and damp morning in Konoha as Okami and Kakashi made their way to where two shadows from the wolf haired ninjas past was being held. Following her sensei's lead she pushed back the whirl of emotions threatening to drown her.

"We have been interrogating the two with mixed results," the ninja dressed in white informed them "we barely had to touch the younger man before he told us all he knew, but not a lot of it was helpful."

"The older man," he continued, "is far more resistant, but it's only a matter of time." He went through some papers he had in his hands. "I'm afraid you only have time to talk to one or the other, who will it be?"

"Take me to that old bastard!"

With a nod from the white ninja he lead them to one of the interrogation rooms, the sight inside brought an uneasy feeling of joy to Okami's melting heart, there he was, the man who had twisted her body and tried to command her very soul, clearly feeling his own mortality. He was chained to a chair in the middle of the room, two ANBU stood behind him, she knew she was free to say and ask anything she wanted, but she could not physically harm him.

"My my, isn't this a heart warming sight?" She said in a wicked manner.

"Okami!" the man scowled at her. "Kill them and set me free, I will over look this."

She could not help but laugh out loud. "Who are you to make demands here!"

"You know as well as I do, you are not even human anymore! There is no way that you can happily live with these people!"

"Oh but I was, and I will be again, you see they don't limit humanity down to the body you are put in, but let us cut out this useless chatter shall we?"

The old man remanded quite and gritted his teeth.

"You labeled me as a failed experiment, cast me aside and sent me out to die."

The man scowled. "But you did not die, you went and did what you will."

"Yes," she snarled, "we executed OUR will instead of listening to written word, commanders, generals or want-to-be gods all singing the same tiresome refrain!" She waved her arm in a jester indicating him to look around, "and now here you are at odds with the world around you, and paying for your crimes."

Relishing how fast her heart was beating, how hard it was becoming to keep control, she turned and headed towards the door.

"I will not become what you want me to be." They where the last words to him as she left the room.

She found calming herself was easer when she heard the door close behind her. Concentrating on her breathing her heart started to slow down to it's normal rhythm. Kakashi lead her outside, she had not realised how suffocated she had felt util the fresh breeze awakened her to it. She could hear the hustle and bustle of the town in full swing, it drowned out the sound of her own heart pounding in her head. She tightened her headband to the point that the metal plate of the front was digging into her skin but its presence there was reassuring as was the jounin ninja standing next to her.

"You did well in there" he said not looking up from the book he was reading.

"Thank you, sensei" her voice was a low tone which told him that...

"Something is wrong" he said no longer reading the book.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

He shook his head, closing the book he turned to her, "Okami, I am your sensei, you know you can come and talk to me about anything." He smiled.

She nodded and returned his smile "I wonder if Nightshade would have been like him if things had been different" her thoughts drifting back to her old leader. "Thank you Kakashi, I would not have been able to come this far if it was not for you."

With a sheepish smile he put his hand up. "Nay Okami, I only showed you the path, it was up to you to walk it."

With out another word the two wandered off into the town, the day had started off cold and damp but it was slowly started to warm, and so too was Okami's mood, walking along the roads of Konoha she found her eyes once again fixed on her sensei, and herself wishing that she had feeling in her hands. She frowned at herself, what the hell was going on with her? She had enough to worry about with those two coming back, and now this.

"you can talk to me about anything" Kakashi's words echoed in her mind, she did not know why but there was something more to those words. No, he said it out of obligation from being her sensei, the ninja charged with keeping an eye on her, right? Okami had never been so unsure out of anything in here life till this point.

Today was a day of rest, with no missions or group training planned, but Okami found herself wound up unable to relax or even stay still for long periods of time. She had tried to slip away from Kakashi knowing that she needed some time to sort her thoughts out but it was in vain. He would not let her go off on her own even after a year had passed it was still like this. She had been welcomed into Konoha but at first only a handful would talk to her. It changed when she became a ninja, but she could understand why they where keeping an eye on her, especially at a time like this, but one feeling clawed at the back of her mind like a ravenous beast driving to escape.

"It's just his orders to do so, nothing more" she said trying to convince herself.

"Hmmm?"

"Oh, it's nothing, just trying to think some things through" she said sheepishly to Kakashi, who was sitting next to her on top of the roof they had some to rest on.

But she knew there was something, she knew it from just two days ago when her past tried to throw its shadow over her, she has an alter ego, an inner beast, digging hungrily at the back of her mind making its presence know to her. It had awakened with a primal scream trigged by the threat of death to her friends, her new family, this wolf's new pack, she had to tell him, but how? She had no idea what would happen, but she knew it was not going to go away and just prolonging it would make it worse.

"K-Kakashi-sensei" she found it hard forcing herself to talk.

"Hmm?"

"I-if lets say, someone had like, another person inside there mind, not like possession or anything in that manner, what would happen if someone wanted to help that person?" She tried to keep it hypothetical.

Kakashi dropped his chin into his hand taping his fingers on his cheek. "Hmmmm, well that normally happens when something has been suppressed for a long time in the person's mind. It manifests itself into another mind separate from the person's own." He stopped, drifting off into thought, Okami hoped that she had not made it sound like the person in question was her.

"Are you saying that you…"

"M-m-me? N-no I'm" she stopped and looked away from him, why was it so damn hard to her to lie to him?

"Okami," she turned back to him, he was so close to her now, close enough that she really had no choice but to look him in that dark eye, "tell me, do you have another mind dwelling in yours?"

She could feel his breath on her face as he asked her, her voice had long abandoned her. She found it hard that someone who took down a demon, was frozen in fear by this man. Once again, her only reply was a slow nod.

Kakashi sighed and turned his head away from her, so she could only see the covered side of his face.

"I'm sorry sensei" it was barely a whisper, he would not of heard it if they where not sitting so close now.

"Nay, Okami, you have nothing to be sorry for, it's that bastard that did this to you who should be screaming those words!" He had an angry tone in his voice that she had never heard before.

"Lets go somewhere a bit more privet that we can talk" he said standing up and pulling Okami to her feet.

Taking her by the wrist, he pulled her along from roof top to roof top, stopping when they came to the balcony of his apartment, with his free hand he slid open the door, she followed him in. He still had a hold on her wrist, but he was not pulling her along. She remained calm even when he pulled her past the couch into his room. He closed the door behind them before sitting on the bed, pulling Okami down to sit next to him. The silence in the small room was heavy.

"What's going to happen to me?" She finally worded the question gnawing her with the sharpest fangs.

"Nothing." he answered with the kindest voice he could muster.

She looked back at him, he was laying on his side probed up on his elbow his legs hanging carelessly over the side of the bed. They way he lounged there made him look like a cat, his visible eye fixed on her.

"All my life I have been carrying out orders, I have always known what was going on and what I needed to do and how to go about doing it," she sighed letting herself fall back onto the bed "now I just don't know."

Her wolf blood was fully awakened now, she did not understand why it had to be now, or even at all but in the end it did not matter, it was here and as much a part of her as the metal arms, she closed her eyes tight and gritted her teeth, why damn it why? Just when things where going so well, feelings started inside her, not all solely her own, her eyes opened in a flash, but it was not her who was looking out of them.

"Okami?"

"I'm sorry Okami, is not here right now," the voice was hers but the tone was odd, "but ill be happy to give her a message for you."

The golden wolven eyes looked at Kakashi, he never sensed the shift from Okami to this new mind. Slowly he sat up and raised a hand to his headband, ready if she made any sudden movements, but she remained still, quiet, only watching his movements. He hesitated a bit before revealing his sharingan, but he wanted to know the truth about what was happing to his student. Slowly opening the eye Okami as he knew her was no longer sitting on his bed, in her place was a large silver-grey and white wolf.

"Who, no, what are you?"

"I am Okami, a part of Okami even she did not know was around," the wolf ran its tong over her large fangs, "but to make things easer for you, you can call me Chu."

"Tell me then Chu, what made you manifest like this?"

"Suppression, some of it self inflicted, some of it inflected upon Okami."

"Suppression of what?" he raised an eyebrow.

The wolf let out a growling giggle. "Everything, the wolf blood in her, her chakra, even her emotions, the only way to get rid of me is for her to accept and understand it all."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed on the wolf, was this really Okami? This wolf was not from any type of jutsu, even more it was telling him how to get rid of it, something was not right.

The silver wolf seemed to shrug at him. "Think what you want, I live as long as Okami lives, separated as we are, it weakens us both."

He frowned. "You can use the jutsu that Okami knows?"

The wolf nodded. "Our minds are not totally separated we are learning from one another though she is not always accepting of me."

Kakashi sat there and said nothing. Why was this wolf giving so much information that Okami said she had no clue about? Was it that the key to it was suppressed along with everything else? He did not even know that he could trust a word it said. He could always hand her over to the ANBU but he knew what would happen then, two minds made their hypnosis jutsu risky for her. If Okami went under and Chu took control and attacked them she could be killed. He closed his eye and recovered it, not wanting to look at the silver furred animal in front of him anymore.

"Kakashi-sensei" the now human Okami sat in front on him her ice blue eyes looked at him.

"Okami?" he was not sure if this was the real Okami or a trick by Chu to lure him into striking range.

The young woman had her normal eyes of ice. It seems the presence of Chu made her eyes wolf like but he could not stay back when it was clear Okami was in pain. To Okami it felt like her chakra was trying to set her body alight, it subsided when she felt the arms of her sensei wrap around her shoulders. She realised that she had let Chu take over her body and in return for her small hint of acceptant it seems the silver wolf had given her a small gift.

Kakashi felt her go limp as she slipped into a deep slumber, her chakra had burnt its self out, he laid her down on the bed, a small glimmer of sadness on his dark eye. There was no way around this he had to report to The Third about what had just happened, he wondered whether to summon any nindogs to keep an eye on her if she was to awaken, but he decided against it, he knew Okami would not run, but Chu? If she was anything like Okami she would know better then to run as well.

The Third listened to Kakashi's report carefully thinking over each possible solution thoroughly. He had to protect Konoha at all costs but he wanted to do right by Okami. Even though she had been here for such a short time, she was quickly becoming a valued member of the village, she was a ninja genius.

"What do you think Kakashi?" he said at length.

"I don't think that she is a threat to the village, I sensed no murderous intent from Chu when she showed herself."

The old Hokage closed his eyes in thought before speaking. "Very well then, I will make arrangements for her to train with the Inuzuka clan."


	3. Chapter 3:Lone wolf of the pack

It had been a week. A full week. A week of unending training. A week of the moon and sun almost rolling into one. A restless week of burnt chakra, burning muscles, and an even hotter burning desire to master the moves given to her. A week Okami had been training beast mimicry techniques with the Inuzuka clan. Her lupine blood made her a natural...

The moon held its high and mighty place in the diamond scattered sky, the gibbous moon seemed to sing with the glory of the oncoming full moon just a few days away now. Okami envied it deep in her heart., oh how she wished she could be one with herself, if tonight was gibbous up in the heavens, then she was Konoha's half moon.

It was not without pity for her though, it lent her its pale light, making the deep gashes in the earth visible. Okami had her head skywards letting the light wash over her like it was a refreshing shower. The cold crisp night air aided to her rejuvenation, she always enjoyed night training.

"Gijyuu ninpou: Shikyaku no jutsu."

She sunk to all fours, her hair turning to fur where it fell on her face. Her jaw opened with a small click as her fangs started to grow. The lunar light started to gather at her finger tips like ethereal flames, she snarled at the rock standing just a few feet away from her like it was her worst enemy. It seemed to throw its shadow over her quietly defiantly in its resistance against her attacks.

But at the moment in time it was, she had to turn the lifeless stone into rubble by the morning or it would mean another week of training, another week away from her pack. No, Okami would not have that. The light from her lunar claws danced up her arms, like the way light would reflect off water.

The wind picked up in a howl that was the refashion of her soul, the moon hid behind a cloud like a frightened person hiding behind a tree, to avoid the eyes of a would be hunter. She made her move towards her lifeless foe, she knew that this attack had to do it, one week of training without rest, one week without being able to renew her unyielding spirit from its greatest source; even Chu wept at not being near her Alpha, and yet Okami still didn't understand it completely.

This was the last of her strength, leaping into the air she started to spin her body, she felt herself make contact with the stone, the spinning claws drilling though it, she did not know if minutes or seconds past. Wind wrapped itself around her body as she found herself stopping the attack, her vision fell onto the heavens that deep black velvet, the stars twinkling at her mockingly laughing at her attempts as the moon still hid itself behind its cloud. Her vision blurred as she hit the hard ground, a sharp crack echoed around the training area followed by a small boom as dust cloud drifted up into the sky, dulling the stars.

"Take that you bastards" she giggled weakly to herself.

The moon drifted out behind its cover, and she found her self squinting away from its light, going to sit up she found her body no longer responding to her will nor did any chakra come when summoned, she cursed but the sound of her voice was drowned out by the rustle of leaves, her head flopped to the side as her over exhausted body started to slip into slumber.

By the time she had finished up with the Inuzuka's and reported to the Hokage it was already evening. The sky had been backed by a golden hue, the last dieing fires of the sun. The roads of Konoha seemed to be longer this evening, she just had to see him again, she didn't know why, she cursed maybe thinking it was this damn jutsu he put on her and made a mental note to learn the dispel technique from Sakura.

She heard Chu mock her from the back of her mind, but Okami just shrugged it off. The she-wolf always seemed to know more about what she was feeling than she let on, years of being given drugs to suppress all her feelings had taken its toll on her. Now that the drugs have ran out of her system, it was like a flood gate had been opened and she was drowning. Chu had managed to keep her head above water and for that she was grateful to her other half.

"You know when wolves return to their pack you have to do it crawling on your belly" Chu growled when they reached Kakashi's door.

"He is human so that wont be necessary."

"Then why are you hesitating pup?"

She was right, she was hesitating. Part of her wanted to see him badly, or was that Chu? The line between them had been blurred over the past week, much to the silver wolf's amusement, but part of her was hoping he would be out. She went for the key in her pocket but stopped, if the door was unlocked, he was in, if it was locked he would be out, holding her breath her tried the door handle.

It was unlocked, he was in… sod it.

Slowly opening the door Okami pulled her tired body into the apartment, orange light flooded the room like it was liquid, he was sprawled out on the couch, catlike again, his eye fixed on his book. He waved to her lazily to show he acknowledged she was there.

"Yo"

"Hello Kakashi-sensei" it was clear from her voice she was tired.

"Back already? I thought they where not letting you go till you mastered two moves."

"I have," she said as she dropped the report onto his lap, "I'm going to take a shower sensei." She said it a bit too bluntly but Kakashi let it go.

A small crack of a smile crossed his face when he heard her go into the bathroom, she had to be the only genin alive to be able to get away with talking to him like that, if it was any of the others he would of tied them up at the least. He though himself was getting soft, he put down his book and picked up the report interested to see what his charge had been up to.

Okami caught a look at herself in the mirror as she adjusted the water, her arms and hare seemed to look like they had rusted. The hot water brought welcome relief to her muscles.

"Not the welcome I expected" Chu whimpered.

"I told you he is not a wolf, non of them are" Okami growled to her inner self.

"It's normal to nuzzle the Alpha, if they where a wolf pack you would have been nuzzled, maybe bitten."

"I can't believe I'm talking to myself in this way." She scowled trying to block Chu's voice out.

"Now now, don't be like that. I am you, remember? And I have a feeling that you would of liked him to..."

"Shut up Chu!" She froze when she realised she had shouted, but it had the desired effect, the small mocking voice in the back of her mind had been quieted.

Quickly getting dried and dressed she left the bathroom with ideas of apologising to Kakashi for being blunt with him, then going to sleep. She was surprised to see him standing by the couch, as though he was greeting her like it was the first time she walked in.

"I'm impressed." He said holding up the report.

The side of her mouth twitched trying to hold back a smile, she gave a nod in thanks.

"I hope you still have some energy left in you." He said with a mischievous grin on his masked face, as he dropped the report onto the couch.

Okami could feel Chu perk up.

She stared down at the glass of water on the table, seemingly lost in thought. Kakashi had taken her to one of the bars in Konoha to talk to her about training, but the talk between them never really started as Kakashi once again was involved in his book. Okami looked around the bar and was starting to feel a bit more out of place as all bar a few of the patrons were jounins.

She could tell that this was not what Chu had in mind, looking out the window she briefly glimpsed a full moon. The sight made her shiver on a primal level as though her inside where icing up. Her sight was distracted from the heavenly orb as two more people entered the tavern, she recognised them, a jounin and genin in green spandex.

"Ahh my eternal rival, I finally found you! Not planning to hide from our challenge today?"

"Oh, hi Gai."

"Your replay is so hip! As expected from my worthy rival!"

Okami drank down her water, wishing it was something stronger. She knew of Gai and his favorite genin Rock Lee, not well though. She only knew that Gai has a rivalry with her own sensei, even though it seemed more like a one sided rivalry, she heard her sensei close his book and sigh quietly.

"Ok, let's go."

Without another word the two parties left. The night air was crisp and cool. Looking up, Okami could tell the night was all most identical to last night, except for the full moon. Its silvery light seemed to pull at her blood, as though bidding her to come and rule the night with it, like almost every new feeling that came to her nowadays she pushed it to the back of her mind, to let Chu devour it.

Her eyes wondered back to the green ninjas in front of her.

"Kakashi-sensei," she whispered to the silver haired jounin next to her, "are thou two father and son?"

Laughter glimmered in his eye. "Nay, Okami." But he could understand why she would think that.

They arrived at one of the many training grounds and the two parties stood a few feet away from each other.

"Ok, what will it be this time? A Race? A-"

"I have a new one for us" Kakashi cut Gai off before the list got unbelievably long...and stupid.

He put his hand at the bottom of Okami's back and slowly pushed her forwards "Let's have our apprentices duel."

"Ohhh, I see it will be a great test to see with one of us has been able to fuel the flame of youth!"

"I will not let you down Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

The two stood there grinning at each other in the "nice guy pose". Okami and Kakashi looked at each other and shrugged, Okami was tired and feeling odd the last thing she wanted to do today was fight another Konoha ninja, but she would do so for her Sensei.

"Chu let me borrow some of your power" she asked, her voice partly a whisper.

"You need not ask pup, my power is your power, whether you believe it or not"

She stood not to far from Lee, with a jerk of her right arm a kunai slid out from a hidden holster into her grasp and slid into her fighting stance. She knew she was at a disadvantage. It had been days since she last got a good nights sleep, her chakra was low and she only had that hidden blade on her.

But Lee had his own disadvantage, it was night time and Okami had been noted as a night-time specialist. Using Chu's eyes the night was as light as day, along with her new high sense of hearing and smell, whilst her opponent who only had the pail moonlight to show him her movements, her arms where covered so there was no tell-tell gleam of light on metal.

"Well then, Rock Lee, let us fight," she said all most joyfully as she twirled the kunai around in her hand for the hell of it, "for our Sensei's!"

The two combatants charged at one another. Okami did not know how to defeat someone so skilled in Taijutsu as Lee was. Their disadvantages where clear to their Sensei's, due to the night Okami was able to keep up with Lee, but as she was showing sings of fatigue. She was not fast enough to counter attack, she wished that Sasuke or Naruto was here in her stead.

Questions were clawing at the back of her mind as she avoided another barrage of attacks it was not like her Sensei to take her out, even if it was just for a change of scenery to talk about training. A talk that never happened, even though Kakashi was late for just about everything under the sun and moon, he was not forgetful, so she knew that he was well aware that he was late for the challenge and that Gai would of come looking for him.

She could of kicked herself - no - she could of kicked him! He wanted her to be here in this fight, but the thing that bothered her the most is why? He knew that she was her weakest when fighting anyone from Konoha, maybe that was it. She knew she could not let her emotions distract her from the battle, a moment of hesitation is all it takes it decide the swift from the dead.

Lee had managed to grab hold of her right wrist, she was able to block his punch locking her steel fingers over his hand, neither combatant willing to let go. She could hear Gai-sensei cheering on Lee, even over the sound of the rapid beating of their hearts and their heavy breathing. Lee leaned in a bit.

"Why do you fight so passionately for someone who does not show their support for you?" he whispered to her.

Okami was then aware of the silence behind her, was he implying that Kakashi was a bad Sensei? She admitted that he did not show his care and support like the other Sensei's, but she knew better. He did not know what it was like, no support, no care, bleeding to death and they look over you like they just scraped you off the bottom of their boot, yes she knew all to well.

"He does not need to show it!" She growled at Lee.

Jumping up she landed both feet squarely on his chest, with a push she tore herself free of his grasp and knocked the wind from his lungs, she turned the motion in to a back flip and landed with a grace that surprised her. Lee went skidding along his back until he was stopped by Gai-sensei. Okami could feel her own Sensei's body behind her. After watching Lee all night she knew how long it would take him to get to her, she could not beat him with her Taijutsu skills but she knew of a way around that.

Throwing her kunai to the ground she saw Lee rise and prepare himself for another attack, gathering up her chakra she made a series of hand signals. Lee stopped his charge and looked around, now in the grip of her Genjutsu.

The moonlight got colder as Lee seemed to lose his train of thought. The world seemed to shimmer lightly around him, a leaf lazily drifted past his face on the light breeze and his gaze was compelled to follow. His mind was all most dreamlike, but what his eyes soon laid upon was anything but. It was a dark mass highlighted by the drifting rays of moonlight. Lee's eyes widened, all thought of the fight and others around where gone from his mind.

His heart was racing faster with each step as he made his way towards the shape, it gleamed wet in the silvery light, it was blood. The ground beneath Lee's feet was like mud, as he inched his way closer to the figure. Things started to become clear, it was a corpse, male and wearing a jounin vest covered in blood, his eyes went wide in horror.

"Gai-sensei?!" it was barley a whisper.

"Gai-sensei!!" he yelled it this time, his scream seemed to split the night.

Lee was clawing at the dirt screaming his sensei's name, Gai's own words where not able to get through to his student, a small pang of remorse for what she was doing to her fellow ninja tugged at her heart but she swallowed it down, she knew not to let her emotions get in the way of a fight.

"Let him go." Kakashi's breath was hot in the back of her neck.

Okami complied, releasing Lee from her jutsu, he slumped to the ground in tears. Gai went over to his student to comfort him. Lee responded by throwing is arms around his Sensei and weeping into his chest. Okami backed up and bumped into her own Sensei, she wondered if she had overstepped the mark, she felt Kakashi's hands on her shoulders.

"I guess this means I win." With out another word, he made some hand movements and the two of them disappeared in a wheel of smoke.

Okami had no idea where she was. Grass and trees were the only thing that greeted her eyes when the smoke cleared. She felt cold when Kakashi stepped away from her, dread gnawed in her gut, in all her life only this silver haired man could cause such gut retching fear in her, she knew why. It was one of the few things that Chu would tell her about - the wrath of the alpha.

She focused on her surroundings, trying to calm herself down from the high of fear she was teetering upon. The air between them was charged, she did not know if she should say something or let him have the first word, her heart was starting to slow down to its normal steady rhythm. The adrenalin in her body slowly washing out, leaving behind tiredness in its wake, fearing that her legs may give at any moment she sat down.

The grass felt damp under her from the cold night. She let herself fall back, almost ready to fall asleep then and there. Kakashi watched his student rest on the grass.

"I'm sorry Sensei if I went overboard back there on Lee."

He chuckled. "You did well Okami, do not worry about it." He sat down next to her. "He will get over it, and hopefully he will be better prepared for genjutsu attacks next time."

The two sat there, enjoying the moonlight and talking about ninjutsu, when the first golden rays of dawn started to spread beyond the horizon they started to head back.

Okami awoke shivering against the cold tiled floor, holding her breath and masking her chakra she looked around. "A hospital? No this is a lab!" Slowly rising to her feet she looked around, she could not sense anyone. The room was a mess, smashed containers littered the floor, mutely colluded liquid pooled around them, paper notes where scatted about the work areas stirred and crumpled, some soaked in liquid. There was a window looking out onto the hallway, it was smashed, the glass laying inside the room, she noted little crimson drops around the window and on the shattered glass.

It then hit her, she knew this room! She had stood guard by that window for about a year, a year that had nothing but pain and sadness like many before them, and many more after them. She went to the large metal door and pushed her body up against it. It was stiff but opened without a sound, it came to a stop when it hit something, looking down she could see the white of a lab coat but it was a corpse, whatever was here had butchered the lab attendants.

Blood was smeared along the walls and floor and stained the white uniforms of the lab works a sickly shade of red. She tried to pick up any tell tale scent, but it was no good. The only thing she could smell was blood and cleaning chemicals. Picking her way around bodies she followed the only path that was open to her. She knew this building, it was the R&D compound that she used to unwillingly work at. This was the place where they took her arms and mixed her blood with that of a wolf's.

Doors seemed twisted and merged with the walls and some corridors where blocked by rubble and other stuff. She did not know how long it was before she stood before a set of double doors she knew almost to well. The operating theater. This is where it all happened, where the changes to her body were made. The doors themselves where thickly covered with blood to the point that she could not see though the windows.

She carefully opened the doors, the blood looked wet though it was dry, but the sight inside froze her solid. On a steel operating table up against the far side of the room, was a giant grey wolf. It had to be the same size as a horse with what appeared to be I.V. tubes coming off it and going into the walls, it had a body under its right paw, but this one was different, it was dressed in black.

The wolf nuzzled the body lovingly. "It's nice of you to visit Okami."

"C-Chu?!"

The wolf continued nuzzling and licking the body under its paw, as though it was the most importing thing in the world.

"What is the meaning of all this?" Okami had managed to get her fear under control.

"I'm growing impatient, Okami" it growled.

Without another word Chu snapped the dark clad body in her jaws and flung it towards Okami like it was a rag doll. Her eyes never left Chu's but it was not long before her gaze was drawn down to the corpse now resting beside her. Her eyes went wide in horror and her hand grasped at her chest when it felt like her heart had exploded, it was Kakashi!

"It's to bad really, he was a fine male, but became unfit to lead the pack"

Okami fell to her knees beside her fallen Sensei, her eyes burning but the tears would not come, not yet. There was no doubt about it, he was not unconscious, no matter how much her heart hoped for it. He was dead. His skin was a sickly white, his chest neither raised nor fell and his eyes where glazed and lifeless. It looked like he had been crying blood.

"But don't worry pup, I will look after the pack."

She buried her head into his chest and had started to weep, not unlike they way Lee had cried when he had been in her jutsu.

"Okami! Okami wake up!"

The voice snapped her back to the wakening world, her eyes laid upon a very real, very alive and a very worried looking Kakashi. She was back in her room in his apartment, she slipped her arms around him and lent her head against his chest, she was in a cold sweat and shivering like mad.

"I heard you crying my name, what's wrong?" There was a hint of concern in his voice.

"I-I'm sorry sensei, I did not mean to wake you."

He chuckled. "I know, but I'm up now, so tell me, what got you so spooked?"

She tightened her grip on him, but remained silent trying to come to terms with what she saw herself.

"That bad huh?" He ruffed her hair, "I'll go make some tea, come in when your ready."

He got up and she let him go, when he had left the room she changed into some dry clothes, she did not know it was possible for someone to sweat to much and feel freezing cold, she left the room determind to tell him what she had seen.

She sat next to him on the couch, sipping at her hot drink wondering where to start, she was grateful that whilst she knew that he would not stop to find out what happened, he would not push.

"I saw Chu, we were back in the old complex I use to live… be kept at, she was tethered to the walls in the operating room" she said at length.

"Did she say or do anything?"

Okami nodded. "Everyone who worked there was butchered, but that was not it, I have seen enough of that to the point it does not effect me in the least," she took a mouthful of tea, "but Chu had a corpse under her paw, she was treating it like it meant the world to her."

The silver-hared jounin remained quite his mismatched eyes fixed on her.

"She said that she was growing impatient, then she threw the corpse at me."

"Who was it?"

She glanced at him even in the darkness he could feel her pain. "I-It was, you."

He froze, trying to take it in, she saw him? Dead? What was going on?

"Chu said something about you being unfit to lead the pack, then something about she was going to take over."

"I see." His voice was bland

"I'm sorry sensei, I have been deceived by her"

Kakashi went over the talk he had with the Hokage in his mind, the wolf known as Chu is what is known as a di-monster, a demon created in a persons subconscious. From what they knew of Okami's past, it was not to surprising that she had developed one, they had given her a chance to tame Chu, and if that failed Kakashi, as her sensei and caretaker knew what he had to do.

"Finish your drink and get ready to go, I have no choice but to seal Chu away."

A solemn nod was her only reply.

It did not take him long to set out the area, he was pleased that Okami did not need to be restrained and that her body did not shake with fear or cold.

"Sealing her away may have some effect on your abilities" his voice broke the heavy silent between them as he started drawing the last line of runes along her arm.

"I will just have to train harder if it does," she tried to smile at him, to show him that she was not afraid of what ever would happen, "at least now i'll be able to see where my abilities stop and Chu's start."

The silent fell over them once again. Okami felt Kakashi's finger travel over her shoulder blade heading to the point at the bottom of her neck where the other trail of runes had lead too.

"What will happen to Chu when the sealing is complete?" Her question seemed to hang in the air as he made the last few marks on her skin.

"She won't be able to control your body or even talk to your conscious mind anymore, but she will still grow in her own way."

Without another word he made the proper hand movements and placed his hand on the bottom of her neck. Okami hissed with the pain of the sealing jutsu, the trail of runes came alive and slivered serpent like along the ground and up her body coaling under her Sensei's hand. It felt like needles of fire where stabbing her where his hand lay intent on peeling away her skin bit by bit.

The pain swirled around at the point on her neck, then it started to lick onto the rest of her body burning hot like her blood was on fire. The pain stopped as suddenly as it started, leavening her weak and ready to vomit. Sinking closer to the ground the cold stone floor offered some relief from the burning ache in her body, with trembling arms she slipped her shirt back on.

"You could have told me it was going to feel like you where trying to burn my skin off" she said between laboured breaths.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly in the only way he could pull off going from serious ninja to the more friendly Kakashi-sensei that team 7 saw.

"Oh? Was it that bad? You see I have never had it used on me so I would not know."

She staggered to her feet, body trembling. Kakashi was partly surprised, he knew of other ninjas who would of passed out by now. "She has enough stamina to rival Naruto" he giggled to himself as he and his student walked off like nothing ever happened.

Okami seemed a bit slow during the next days training, but it was soon apparent that it was just tiredness from the sealing technique, as much to her sensei's relief she was back to normal in just a few days. And all but for the loss of her chakra claws her jutsu moves remained unchanged.

The change in her did not go unnoticed by the rest of the team. Without the burden of Chu breathing down her neck and trying to twist Okami to her inner monsters wishes she was able to be her self training and missions past uneventfully. Well uneventful being nothing happen to turn a D-Rank mission into a A-Rank. .

Until one day, a cry from a Hawk got Kakashi's attention.

"Aarrggh, I can't stand this anymore!" Naruto growled whilst ruffling his own hair.

The other three seemed to ignore their team-mates cry of distress, patiently waiting for their sensei at their pre-arranged post as always. Even though they had learned to take the time given to them about a hour earlier than they need to arrive at, but even today they had been waiting longer then normal.

"He said he had to go and pick up something." Okami shrugged to try and settle her friend.

Sasuke stood there, eyes closed trying to block out Naruto whilst Sakura gazed at him dreamy eyed, Naruto shifted restlessly grumbling.

"Think of this as training," Okami sighed, "timing is everything and without patience you cannot be sensitive to timing."

"So true" a deep voice interrupted.

"YOU'RE LATE!!" Naruto pointed at his sensei.

Forgoing his normal excuse Kakashi held up 4 slips of paper. "I have nominated you 4 for the chunnin exams."

"All right! Kakashi-sensei I love you!" An over existed Naruto threw his arms around the silver haired jounin, his frustration at his sensei completely forgotten.

"Get off!" Kakashi growled as he pushed the overly happy ninja away, he handed out the slips. "You will be taking the exam in groups of three."

"Okami," he continued, "will be partnered up with others who have been temporarily removed from their teams due to the size of the groups."

Okami looked over her team mates, Naruto was grinning like an idiot at his slip of paper, Sasuke's face was as plain as ever and Sakura was biting her bottom lip nervously eyeing the slip in her hand.

"You have a week to prepare." he said over his shoulder as he walked away.

They wandered off to their homes, Okami following her sensei as she was still lodging at his apartment. Kakashi had flipped out his orange book and started reading, she had mixed feelings about this exam.

"Kakashi-sensei, do you know who my new team-mates will be for this?"

"Hmm? Ah yes." he rummaged around in his pocket and handed her a small piece of paper.

She took the slip and unfolded it, it had a date, time, and place for a meeting, a meeting she realised she was already 40 minuets late for. Cursing to herself she darted off without a word to her sensei. Kakashi looked up from his book to see her disappear over a rooftop.

She slowed herself to a walk as she approached the area, she could see them though from where she was she could only make out the jounin who would be the sensei of this team for the exam. Okami knew him the senbon in his mouth was a dead giveaway.

"You're late" Genma smiled at her.

"Sorry, Genma-sensei, I have only just finished a meeting with Team 7" she said humbely to the jounin.

"That's fine, take a seat and we can now get started."

Okami sat on the end of the bench that her other team-mates were sat at, increasingly feeling uneasy about this.

"Ok, as you all know you have been teamed up in order to take the chunnin exams, this puts you at a disadvantage, but lets start out by introducing yourselves."

"I'm Kavor" the boy at the other end of the bench said, he had long green hair the same colour as Genma's vest, he wore baggy brown pants with a matching top. His headband was wrapped around the top of his left leg. "I'm a taijutsu user mostly." He crossed his arms over his chest, signalling that he was done talking.

"I'm Imairal" the boy next to Okami grinned, he had short hair a bit like Naruto. It was deep red tipped with orange making it look like fire, the fire theme ran through his appearance. His shirt was unbuttoned half way down with red and yellow flame print, it was the same for his pants. "I specialise in fire jutsu."

"I'm Okami," she sighed, "I use beast mimicry and some earth jutsu."

"I thought I knew you," the fire haired boy smiled, "you're the survivor of the outsiders that took down that demon over a year ago now. I have to say that accent of yours is no where as strong as it was."

"Err thanks… I think."

"Who have you been training under? Rumour is that you where stuck with a guardian."

"Kakashi-sensei." She did not really want to go into details, she did not even want to have this conversation.

"That does not surprise me," it was Kavor that spoke this time, "I feel sorry for you, having to be stuck with that Hatake bas-" he was cut off as he found himself skidding across the ground, Okami pining him down.

"If you know what's good for you, you will not finish that sentence!" she growled, eyes narrowed on her green haired team-mate.

Genma sighed as he watched Okami punish Kavor for insulting her sensei, it was going to be a long week.


	4. Chapter 4: test of blood trail of spirit

"She's a lot like you ya know." Genma said as he watched the wolf blooded ninja talk to her friends.

"You mean the silver hair?" Kakashi asked not looking up from his book.

Genma chuckled "No, you know what I mean."

Kakashi just shrugged.

"I wish I could have a real conversation with you some times."

"And I wish that you would choke on that senbon, but I think neither of us are going to get what we wish for eh?" He grinned, his visible eye now looking at his fellow jounin.

Genma could not help but laugh out loud "She threatened Kavor. He called you a bastard and she threw him down." He sighed.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow.

Naruto's voice rang out as he yelled at Sasuke, it seemed that the Uchiha was trying to get Okami to trade places with him.

"You know about the seal, right?" Kakashi's voice was hushed so only Genma could hear.

The brown haired jounin nodded. "Don't worry about it, I can handle her."

"It should not come to that."

To Genma's surprise the new team was able to work together quite well, even with the tension between Okami and Kavor. He was quietly confident that they would do well in the exam, and so, the day closed up on them.

The newly formed team made their way to the exam hall, when they reached the doors they could hear shouting. The voice was very familiar to Okami. When they entered they were greeted with the sight of Naruto in a heck lock from Sakura with the whole room glaring at him.

"Looks like we missed all the fun eh?" Imairal grinned whilst nudging Okami.

She just smirked and shook her head. "I think it best we save it for later." She wandered over to a corner of the room where it was less crowded. Due to Naruto's outburst they had managed to slip by mostly unnoticed, which was fine with her.

With a large cloud of smoke the examiners appeared, bringing some order into the room swiftly. Everyone for stored for the written exam. Okami knew that this was a test of ninja info gathering skills, to cheat off of someone in the room without anyone even knowing. She thanked Kakashi-sensei for teaching her a jutsu that may have once seemed useless, but now it was going to allow her and her team to get though this exam with ease. Hiding her hands under her desk she quickly made the necessary seals. Trying to drown out the thoughts of the people panicking, she found someone who was breezing though the questions, finding her target she got the answers to most of them, enough to pass, she did not want to let the jutsu run to long for fear of one of the examiners finding out.

Quickly writing down the answers she then recast the jutsu, only this time to relay the info to her team. Finally the 10th question came and they stood their ground. Pass the question and move onto the next part of the exam, fail and remain as this rank for all of their ninja lives. After Naruto's outburst everyone left in the room was granted a pass, now, onto the forest of death.

The team stood at their gate waiting for the signal to start this next test. Even though it could not have been longer than a minute they where getting restless. They found it almost unbearable sitting there in the heavy silence.

The forest in front of them seemed to have an air about it, even though the day was warm and pleasant. Looking through the chain link fence into the darkness created by the unnaturally large trees seemed to chill them to the bone - training area 44 - the forest of death. She could see where it got its name. The bark of the trees was like stone and the thick canopy of their dark leaves blocked the light from the forest floor. The tree roots seemed almost as thick as the trunks as they snaked out of the earth to disappear back into its dark embrace. The lower tree lines, devoid of any foliage, looked like clawed hands, preparing to tear at the souls of any who dare to enter its darkness.

Rising just above the towering trees she could see a roof of a tower, their destination. She slipped her scroll of the haven into her pouch, eyes of ice never leaving the distant building barely visible. The signal was given to begin snapping her out of her trance. Kavor kicked the gate open and they three moved headlong into the depths of the forest.

Channeling the chakra into their legs, the three leaped into the trees disappearing into the haze like ghosts.

Kavor and Okami were worried about their fiery friend. He was still wearing his bright red and yellow clothes, which made hiding in this terrain difficult, but they were even more worried about his fire jutsu. He held no concern for the terrain he used it in, so with him around a forest fire was possible.

To Okami, the forest really did smell dead, rotting foliage, corpses and shed snake skin was the only thing in the air, but lucky the only human scent around was that of Kavor and Imairal. And so it was the story for the next day or so. When they did cross paths with another team, nothing came of it as they happened to have the same scroll, time, and there patience was getting short.

"I knew we should have taken out that other team when we had a chance." Kavor growled as they dropped down to the forest floor for a rest.

"They had the same scroll as us, it would have been pointless." Okami snapped.

"Not totally, it would have been one less group after the earth scroll, heck for all we know they could have already got it and be well on their way to the tower by now."

"And risk being injured? No, we need to save all of our energy."

Imairal sighed and leaned up against one of the trees. They had been fighting like this a lot, and he had wisely decided to stay out of it the best he could.

"We will head to the tower instead of dancing around looking for a earth bearing team, all teams need to head there, so we will be bound to find one with the scroll." Okami sighed, wanting to get this test over with.

Imairal nodded and hummed in agreement.

"Hay! What the hell! Who put you in charge damn it!" Kavor had to restrain himself from yelling.

"No one," she snarled, "but you're not doing anything productive, other then wanting to fight anything that moves."

The green haired ninja sulked back, he had no love for Kakashi Hatake, or anyone he trained, but he knew better than fight someone who had been under his wing for as long as Okami had. Not here and now anyway, maybe luck would be on his side and he would find himself up against her in the upcoming matches, if they got though this test that is.

The three rested in an uncomfortable silence. Having only food pills to eat seemed to make Kavor even more unfriendly than normal. Okami wished they would find a hungry snake for him to work out his frustration on, but then again the monsters things could not take a hit as well as another ninja it would at least get him off her back for a bit, damn it, where's an ambush when you need one?

Truth was, that all three of them were wishing for a fight, they wanted to get the earth scroll and get this thing over with, their thoughts wandered to there original teams, Kavor's had failed the written exam, one of them was caught cheating. Imairal's and Okami's where still in, they prayed that they would not have to fight any of there friends.

The restless group set off once again, heading towards the tower instead of hunting around for another group. The sun had already sunk below the trees by the time they had got to a point you would call close, even so it would take the best part of a days travel to get to the building itself. Kavor dropped from the trees to a beaten path below them, followed by his other two team-mates. Okami sniffed the air like a trained bloodhound, the forest was less dense here and the air was fresher.

The sweat from her friends was overly strong. Being around Team 7 had made their scent dulled somewhat to her. Kavor and Imairal moved down wind to her so she could do the thing she did best, tracking and enemy detection. Okami took the lead as they made their way down the path. Raising her hand to stop her team she heard something, a rustle of leaves so subdued that it would of not been heard over there foot falls. The sound again, only louder this time, followed by a deep dragging noise, then rising out of the darkness came the origin of the sounds, one of the forest's giant snakes.

The beast hissed at its next would be meal, tongue flickering eagerly. Hissing again it opened its gaping mouth, unfolding its spear-like fangs dripping with venom. Kavor went to charge the creature but was stopped by Okami's grip on his arm.

"Damn it what?!" he yelled at her.

"That thing has no scent!"

"You mean it's-"

"Genjutsu."

Letting go of his arm, the three got into fighting stance with their backs to one another. Okami cursed herself, how could she miss the enemy's sent? She could smell it now, three rain ninjas appeared out of the undergrowth to surround the Konoha ninjas.

"Now lets cut out the chit-chat hmm?" the first said mockingly, "hand over the heaven scroll and we will let you be."

"I got a better idea," Okami grinned, showing off her enlarged canines, "how about you hand over your earth scroll and we won't gut you where you stand!"

One of the other rain ninjas laughed. "How amusing, do you really think you're in a position to make threats?"

"We don't think, we know." Kavor growled.

One of the rain ninjas touted "OK lets show them how much of a bunch of idiots they are!"

Each of the rain ninjas threw an umbrella into the air, their paper and bamboo canopy opened and begun a chakra induced spin, spraying needles. The projectiles hit the ground and the three leaf ninjas with such ferocity that it created a dust cloud. The umbrellas slowly returned to there owners as the dust started to settle, they expected to see three dead ninjas and a heaven scroll for the taking, but what they saw was three logs full of needles.

"Damn it where did they go?"

"Where'd who go?"

The startled rain ninja turned around to face the fire haired boy.

"It's been a blast" was the last thing he said when he jumped back into the darkness of the woods.

A hiss got the rain ninja's attention, as he looked down at his chest, Imairal had left him a parting gift, a explosive tag, his scream was cut short by the blast.

"What the hell?!"

The second rain ninja went to go to his friend's aid but found himself unable to move as he was violently pulled into the earth, Kavor was easily able to knock out the last opponent with a firm blow onto his head.

"These guys where hoping to pass the exams? You got to be kidding me, they are pathetic!" Kavor said as he wiped the sweat from his brow, only to smear more dirt over his forehead.

Imairal came out of the brush smiling whilst twirling the earth scroll on his hand "We got the scroll, now time to go."

"W-what about me?"

The three looked down at the rain ninja who was buried up to his neck by Okami's jutsu.

"What about you?" the silver haired ninja scowled.

"Y-you cant just leave me hear like this!!"

"I don't see why not." Kavor snorted.

Imairal stuffed a rock into the ninja's mouth "your team-mate should wake up at some point, I'm sure he will be more then happy to help you out."

Ignoring the muffled cries behind them, the team walked on towards the tower, both scrolls in hand.

Okami stood there in a line with the rest of her team in front of all the examiners, team sensei's and the Hokage. She saw Genma, and standing just behind him was the person she was unknowingly looking for, Kakashi-sensei. Her eyes snapped back to where they should be when Hayate started talking, she was not ignoring what was being said, it was she was eager to know where the friendly faces were.

A head of pink hair caught her eye, and she sighed inwardly when she saw that team 7 had got through. Sasuke was rubbing his shoulder, but Okami did not find herself to concerned about it, probably just some injury that he got out in the woods. They started to walk out of the arena area and onto the balcony that ran around the hall, the team greeted Genma and stood with him as the first fight started.

"I'm glad to see that you are not injured." Genma said whilst still chewing his senbon.

"The rain ninja's are a pushover, I'm so disappointed." Kavor snorted.

Genma just rolled his eyes at the green haired ninja, he knew what he was like, for Kavor, if the enemy could not last 4 hits it was not worth getting up for. Glancing over at Imairal he found the fiery ninja enjoying some water, and the wild blooded female, well he found that her attention was not on him or the fight happing below, but on Kakashi and his team.

"Okami." he sighed.

"Genma-sensei?"

"Go talk to them."

"Thank you sensei." She smiled and slipping past Gai's team made her way to her friends.

"Hay! Okami!" Naruto had his normal grin pasted across his face.

"I'm glad you three passed" the words seemed odd as she kept her voice and face plain.

"You don't sound like it." Sakura scowled.

Okami tilted her head to the side looking at her pink haired friend "What happened to your hair?"

"Well.. Umm" Sakura trailed off looking away from her.

The next names where called, Imairal was up next against a rain ninja, she could not help but sigh. They seemed to be everywhere. Imairal is a raging inferno, and at the moment his only concern was getting this over with, he planned to get this party started and finished with one jutsu.

"You all mind? Follow me over here for a bit?" She walked over to the wall behind them, away from the railing.

"What's wrong?" Naruto and Sakura followed her looking slightly concerned.

"Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi just replied with his normal humm, and wandered over followed by Sasuke.

"What's up Okami?" Naruto asked sounding very concerned.

She just leaned back onto the wall crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes.

Okami sighed. "5... 4...3...2...1"

On the count they felt heat wash up their backs and the fighting area was engulfed in flame, anyone that had not backed away from the railing was knocked back from the instant heat.

Smoke and steam raised from the arena, both combatants still standing, the rain ninja was singed and looked ready to collapse, but Imairal had used up all of his chakra and was completely exhausted. Hayate was completely unharmed, there was even a neat area around him that was un-burnt. Silence descended on the room, only broken by the heavy breathing of Imairal and his opponent, they both collapsed hitting the ground at the same time, the fight was a draw, both combatants fail.

"I'd better go and see if he has not killed himself." Okami started to wander back to Genma, she looked over her shoulder at her friends, "If I get drawn up against one of you, even though we are friends, I wont go easy."

Imairal was carried off by the medics as she got back to Genma and Kavor. Sitting down against the wall behind them she closed her eyes in order to try and regain some lost chakra. In a sleep like state but still aware of what was going on around her, she heard the next two combatants get ready to fight. Though she did not catch the names Kavor's scent had grown distant, she guessed it was him.

She rubbed a gloved hand around the back of her neck, tips of her fingers lightly brushing on the seal. Her heart skipped a beat in memory of when it was put there, she tried not to think of it now a days, out of sight out of mind, but for the past week she found her hand resting on it more and more.

The fight was over, Kavor won, his opponent lasting about 15 hits, in his books, that meant it was worth getting up for. Okami opened her eyes and looked up at the smug looking Taijutsu user. She could hear the blipping of the display board as it scrolled through names, looking up when the sound stopped she was sure that something must have been rigged, it was her turn, all of team Genma had been called one after the other.

With out a word to Genma or Kavor she placed a hand on the railing and effortlessly vaulted over, landing neatly below and inwardly sighed when she saw her opponent, another rain ninja. Wonderful, taking in her opponents appearance he did not look that much different from the other rain shinobi that she had seen, one umbrella slung over his back and two pouches on his belt.

Hayate gave them the signal to start. Okami jumped back and activated her beast mimicry jutsu crouching to all fours. She focused on the rain ninja who now had his umbrella in hand, he held it like he was expecting it to rain, she smirked at him.

"You know its bad luck to open a umbrella indoors." she snarled.

"It is, for you."

He threw it up into the air above him, after what happened in the woods she knew what was coming next as it began to rotate, she slid up agents the far wall and hunkered down. Still in her crouching position she used her forearms and hands to cover her chest and head, bringing her knees up to cover her torso. She was glad she had worn her shin guards and thick boots as she heard the senbon needles hit steel.

After spraying its dark rain the umbrella floated gently back down to its master's hand, with a quick jerk of his arm it folded back down, he pointed it at Okami, the end was like a kunai which made it double as a spear. Okami uncurled herself and shook her body like a dog coming out of the rain, the needles falling to the floor leaving her unharmed.

Swiping at the floor she sent some of the needles flying back at the rain shinobi. He reacted by unfolding the umbrella and using the canopy as a shield, but lifting it up to cover himself blocked his vision. The next thing he knew claws were tearing through the jutsu imbued fabric. He managed to side-step away form most of the attack but she still landed a wounding blow to the top of his right arm.

Cursing he jumped back using the umbrella to glide longer he landed a good distant from her, passing his tool to his left hand. His right grabbed a bottle out of his pouch along with two senbon. Okami turned and set her self up for another attack but then it hit her, a searing pain between her shoulder blades like someone had just poured boiling acid on her. She hissed and her shoulders flinched stopping her in her tracks.

The rain ninja took this as his chance, throwing the bottle and senbon at the silver haired kunoichi, who was hindered by the unnatural pain, unable to move in time as the glass shattered, spraying a sickly looking green liquid over Okami. It had an odd odour to it and stung when it got into her eyes. She tried to remain calm as she realised her vision had left her. Replaced by dark green, no discernable shapes could be seen, she was blinded. The smell of the foul liquid dominated her olfactory senses.

"What the hell is this stuff?!" she growled.

He let out a menacing giggle. "Like it? It's used to stop nin-dogs from tracking."

He walked up to Okami and pointed the kunai like tip of his umbrella only a few centimetres from her face, but she was completely oblivious to it.

"Now you can't follow me with your eyes or nose, you're at my mercy, which I have none of, give up now!"

Swinging his weapon like a club he landed a blow on the side of her head, laying her onto her side.

"I really do hate animals!" he spat as he kicked her in the stomach.

Using his foot to roll her onto her back, he stamped on her chest winding her.

"I said give up!"

Okami could hear her heart beating furiously in her head, she heard Naruto yelling, cheering her on even in her state, telling her to get up and kick his ass. She heard Hayate cough, and she felt him, his chakra. Instinct and training where one for Okami, if she could not find her opponent by sight or smell, then she will have to do it by sound and feel. Hearing the rustle of the rain ninja's clothes she rolled away from him standing back up.

"Give up? Why when I'm having so much fun?"

She dodged a kick and a blow from the weapon. Trying to counter attack but failing, she heard the whoosh as he used the umbrella to glide away from her again. She tilted her head to the side trying to pick up any tell-tale sound of where he may be. Her heart still boomed in her ears, the rain shinobi floated above her, he knew that she could not locate him, pulling his body up higher, he folded the umbrella up and angled it down, bearing down on the wild blooded ninja he speared down.

The tip buried itself deep into the arena floor. Okami had jumped up out of the way, leaving a vulnerable rain shinobi hunched over the shaft of his weapon. He did not have time to react as a blow was landed on his jaw sending him flying across the ground. Okami jumped up onto the end of the umbrella, using her chakra to balance on the tip. She crossed her arms over her chest and kept her face turned to where the cries of pain was coming from.

The rain ninja was holding his jaw and mewing in pain, Okami was not unnaturally strong, but the metal of her fists made her punch much more painful. He pushed himself against the wall, trying to get as much distance from the kunoichi as he could.

"You make to much noise, and your toy here is even louder then you."

He looked up at Okami standing atop his main weapon, the green liquid had dried darker on her skin, it matted up her hair and had made a mask over her eye, she felt it again, the feeling of acid between her shoulder blades.

"W-What are you?" he stuttered, fear rising in his voice.

The rain shinobi had gone from a cocky bastard to a cowering wreck in just a few turns. Okami did not know what brought on this sudden change but she was not going to let this opportunity go. The smell of fear was rolling off him in waves, eyes wide and body trembling.

"N-No!" he murmered to himself holding his head in his hands.

"Stand up a fight!" it was the rain ninja's sensei that shouted.

He used the wall to stand up, and hearing the movement Okami channeled her chakra into the weapon, shattering it with shear force. With a yelp he slid back down the wall, fear making his legs to weak to hold him.

"N-No! I-I don't want to fight anymore! I-I g-give up!"

Okami sighed when she heard those words pass his lips. Naruto was cheering, but the sound of hastily approaching footsteps along with unfamiliar chakra made her turn and resume a fighting stance. Not sure of who it could be she did not want to take any chances, in case it was a angry rain shinobi.

"Easy we are here to tend to your eyes." a medic-nin said.

She replied with a low growl and strengthened her stance.

"It's no good, she is still wound up to much from the fight."

The medic turned to face the silver haired jounin.

"She knows my voice and chakra well, let me treat her eyes."

Kakashi took the bottle of blue liquid from the medic, and slowly approached his student letting her feel his chakra. To Okami his energy felt like a captured thunder storm, before she realised it he was tipping her head back and drizzled the solution on to her eyes. Blinking against the new sensation on her face and specks of white dancing across her vision as it was slowly returned to her, all be it somewhat blurred and tinted green.

"Go with the medics, let them take care of that stuff on you." he held her chin so she had to look him in the face as he talked.

She replied with a small nod, and followed the medic-nins out not bothering to look at anything other than the nin's back. The bleeping of the score board was the last thing she heard as she left the room.

Okami woke up on the couch in Kakashi's apartment, not even remembering falling asleep. She rolled onto her back with a sigh staring up at the ceiling in the darkness. She had one month to the finals and her first fight would be up against Kavor. She could feel no other chakra about her, so she knew she was alone but there was fresh scent in the room, meaning that Kakashi had come in and left when she was asleep, closing her eyes she let sleep overtake her as she tried to think of how to best Kavor in a months time.

"I'm sorry I can't." Kakashi said to the wolf-blooded kunoichi walking along side him.

"But I have no-one to train me, Genma is busy with Kavor." Okami tried to stay stoic but was growing more and more frustrated.

"He did not set anyone to oversee your training in the time being?"

"No, when I asked about it he said to go to you."

"I'm sorry Okami but-"

"It's ok sensei, I understand," she cut him off, "I will find something to work on my own." With ut another word between them she turned and leaped onto the roof of the nearest building and out of sight.

Kakashi just sighed to him self and went back to his book.

Okami went from roof to roof, not really having any idea as to where she was going, just letting her legs carry her where they will, but in truth she did not care, she was frustrated and a bit stressed. No one wanted to help her with her training for the exams, everyone else had a sensei to oversee their training damn it! She told her self not to care, she told her self that she will do fine on her own, but she did care, she had been on a team all her life, and now, she seemed to have no one, coming to a stop on the roof of one of the tall buildings she gazed out across Konoha. Looking over the walls and onto the surrounding forest, the sight captured her, dispelling her frustration. A smirk coming across here lips, to anyone who would have looked over her past and present lives would say they are the same but with different faces, she knew it was not true, being a Konoha shinobi was a far cry from being a test subject.

She made up her own training regime and kept to her self, she did not see anything of Naruto, Sasuke or Kakashi during that time. Sakura would come and keep her company from time to time, but she would only sit back and watch but Okami was grateful for the company at least.

Okami looked up, it was night, she sighed as the cool air whipped around her. She had lost track of time again, she always wanted to be back before dark so she had time to read though some jutsu scrolls. She had been trying to come up with her own new jutsu, but inspiration had yet to hit her, and with less than a week to the finals it was really a bit to late to come up with a fully working jutsu. Sighing again she decided that there was really no reason to rush and started to walk back at a slow pace.

The sky was overcast, making the night seem darker, Okami let her right hand travel to the back of her neck rubbing it gently, fingers brushing over the seal again. She stopped walking as deep thought overrode her leg movement. One question gnawed at her, why? Why had the seal started to hurt? There was only one man who could help her with it, and she had no idea where he was, she just hoped it would fade with time.

The seal flared up, earning a hiss of pain from her, it seemed worse this time, like an acid soaked knife had been plunged in and was slowly being twisted, she dropped to one knee grasping at her back in some vain hope of finding the phantom dagger and pulling it free.

The pain stopped as soon as it started leaving every inch of her body feeling tender, her breath coming in ragged pants. She turned her eyes upward, the clouds had parted leaving a bright full moon visible. She snarled at it, regarding the heavenly orb with such hate it scared her, the dagger returned to her back, she closed her eyes in pain.

When she opened them again her eyes laid on a pair of very familiar blood smeared doors, but they where different. This time they where locked with heavy chains and there was black paint on them. Like before she could not see through the windows, but from the shifting of light that leaked from under the doors told her, something was pacing back and forth just the other side.

It rammed the doors causing them to strain against the chains, and a few gave way. Just when Okami thought the door was going to give, it stopped, and all was quite save for the sound of her heavy breathing.

"Okami," a voice from the other side called trying to sound warm and caring, "let me out Okami."

Okami just knelt there eyes wide.

"Please Okami, it's so lonely here let me out so we can keep each other company, please just open the doors."

"Why?" the voice was then filled with sadness and hurt. "Why do you let him do this to me? To us? It hurts so bad for him to separate us pup, it hurts so bad."

Again the dagger assaulted Okami's flesh. "It's for the good of Konoha." She bit through the pain.

"W-what did you say?" the voice was calm but had a slight hint of anger behind it.

"I-I don't care how much it hurts," again she closed her eyes due to the almost unbearable pain, "if it's for the good of Konoha, I don't care how much it hurts."

Her eyes snapped open the pain had again left her, leaving her body feeling weak and ready to vomit. She saw a silhouette of a man agents the moonlight, the wind carrying his scent to her.

"G-Genma-sensei?"

He knelt down in front of her, the small smile of lips his hidden in the night.

"You know, the greatest monsters we can face are those we make ourself."

She replayed those words over in her head, they helped her a bit, but she could not shake the feeling that she would have been comforted more if Kakashi had said them. She looked out onto the arena for the upcoming matches, she could hear people filling the stands up above her. The talking just drowned into one incoherent sound. The other combatants were there in the small box room, all except Sasuke. She thought over who was fighting who and what match it was, her and Kavor were going to be the 5th fight.

Sasuke was late, really late, but they gave him more time by moving his fight back a bit, so that meant Naruto and Neji were up. She watched intensely as the battle unfolded, taking down mental notes, but part of her could not believe Naruto, how strong he had become, he was like a totally diffrent person. She knew he would win this. He had faith in her when she was lying blind in the pre-matches, she would repay the favour now, even as Neji landed a blow.

"Common Naruto! Kick his ass! Show him what the future Hokage is made out of!" she yelled leaning heavily on the railing.

"For the love of… Okami shut the hell up!" Kavor shouted angrily.

Okami turned to him and shot him a venomous glare. "What's wrong Kavor? Jealous that no one will cheer you on?"

"Shut up, silver haired bitch!" His expression turned from hate to shock as he felt a kunai press up against his neck.

Looking over his shoulder he saw a white and blue ANUB mask of a wolf, two red gleaming lights shone in the darkness of the mask's eye slits, its mouth opened running a pale blue tongue over needle like teeth. Seemingly satisfied with the fear it produced from the green haired ninja it lowered its blade and wandered over to where Okami was standing.

He could now get a good look at it, the mask was fused to the face with unevenly short cut hair, the body seemed lean and genderless but it was hard to tell with the baggy black top and trousers it was wearing. It was the same height as Okami, and just as it reached her it disappeared into a cloud of smoke. She looked out onto the battle field to see a happy Naruto running and jumping everywhere and Neji on his back.

"Looks like Naruto won."

Still no Sasuke. It was Shino and his opponent next, the sand ninja puppet master, she could not remember his name, but he gave up, even before they had gotten to the arena, so it was Shikamaru and Temari. The Nara boy seemed a little reluctant to go, but he did with a push from Naruto. Okami sat down against a back wall and closed her eyes.

The sound of birds chirping disturbed her. She looked out onto the arena to see Sasuke facing off against a globe of sand, who she guessed was Gaara, but it was what Sasuke was doing that caught her gaze, he rushed at Gaara with a Chidori in full force, he screamed when it broke through his shell of sand.

Something dangerous was on the wind, she could smell it, something was not right, a rumble from over the walls confirmed her suspicions. An attack on Konoha had begun.

She leapt onto the railing, then onto the wall. Using chakra to climb it she pulled herself onto the stands. Everyone who was not a shinobi was asleep, sand and sound ninjas facing off against leaf. Grabbing a kunai from her pouch she threw it at the nearest enemy ninja, killing him as it embedded itself into the side of his head. Turning swiftly she headed towards Kakashi and Gai.

"Sakura, wake up Naruto and Shikamaru." Kakashi ordered as he summoned his fevered pug.

Sakura woke up Naruto and Pakkun woke up Shikamaru with a bite on the leg.

"I need you to follow Sasuke and bring him back."

"What about me Kakashi-sensei?"

He turned to look at Okami, he was about to tell her to hide somewhere when she through a kunai at him, the aim was bad as it flew over his shoulder, he thought it was aimed at him, until he heard a grunt behind him as the weapon hit a sand ninja in the neck, killing him.

"Stay here, but keep in sight and don't try and take on the jounin's by your self."

She smiled and gave him a small nod, making a seal with her hands.

"Gijyuu ninpou: Shikyaku no jutsu!"

The three battled on, Okami did as she was told to and took down any chunnins that would come close, but she had to disobey her sensei's orders when a jounin using some jutsu that covered his sound and body, but not his scent. With a swift blow she was able to reveal him for Gai to take him down, he gave her a thumbs up with one hand whilst braking another enemy ninja's neck with the other.

Kakashi glanced over at his student for a second as he drove his kunai into a sound ninja's back, she was bloody and a bit cut up, but she was still going strong, and she empathised this by striking down another sand nin. Kakashi turned and jumped down into the arena followed by Gai, and a few moments later Okami followed to see two enemy nins disappear.

"I told you to keep in sight" he said to her as she landed by him.

"I did not see you jump down here." She was very short of breath.

Suddenly she fell onto her hands and knees as it felt like someone had stabbed her in the back. She gasped for breath as it felt like someone was strangling her. She went to cry out, but all that past her lips was blood, she felt a hand on her back and heard Kakashi's voice, but what he said would not sink in. Her shadow grew darker under her and started to bubble as it turned into a tar like substance. A pair of arms wrapped around her waste and pulled her up and back, away from the dark pool.

"Are you ok?" Kakashi asked as he pulled her tighter against his body.

"I-I'm sorry sensei," her voice was rough and sounded weak like she would pass out at any moment, "I was too weak to keep it sealed, I have failed."

The tar bubbled up forming the shape of a large dog, which then started to harden making its shape become clear. A wolf with leaf like scales covering the top of its head, back and flanks, with two horns jutting from behind its ears. The tar dried leaving it a greyish brown colour, with eyes like orbs of cold brass, long claws of ebony, and fangs an unhealthy yellow.

An evil laughter filled the air. "IM FREE!!" the demon howled, "I'm finally free after all these long years!"

It wandered into the middle of the arena and seemed to relish the feeling of the sun on its scales and fur, all of the Konoha shinobi kept there distance from it. Okami pushed away from Kakashi and walked over to the demon. The beast turned to her and seemed overjoyed to see her.

"Good pup, I thank you for finally seeing and letting me out." The voice was harsh and genderless. That made Okami shiver.

The monster looked past Okami to Kakashi with a smirk on its lips and a gleam in its brass eyes.

"Come Kakashi Hatake," it growled, "I have a score to settle with you!"

Kakashi's mismatched eyes narrowed on the wolf, he knew what this hell hound was. Okami had, as she said, failed, and the seal had weakened to let her di-demon out. He looked at her, and could tell from the look in her eyes, on her face, that she was ashamed. Curiously he moved forward. He locked eyes with Okami who mentally pleaded with him to stay back.

Then it happened so fast, as soon as he was close the demon summoned a barrier caging the three. Gai punched the barrier but it did more damage to his fist then the cell.

"It's no good, this cell wont be broken so easily. It will only drop if I will it to, or with my death!"

He sensed it before it happened, spikes made of earth erupted from the ground trying to encircle Kakashi. They were fast, and he was starting to tire, dodging one he bumped into another. The small break in his movements is all that was needed as the spikes wrapped around him and pulled him down.

"Leave him alone!" Okami yelled at the hell hound as it made its way to the trapped jounin.

"Poor pup," it said back at her mockingly, "you have always needed someone, for all your skill, you needed someone."

Okami placed herself between the demon and Kakashi. With a jerk of her arm a kunai slipped into her hand from a hidden holster. "You said yourself, I'm a wolf and wolves belong in packs."

Its eyes narrowed on her. "Move pup!"

"I can't do that, I may have been a lot of things in my life time, but I'm not trash who will sit by and let her team-mates, her pack die… anyway," she glanced behind her at Kakashi, "I love him."

Kakashi's eyes opened wide, did she just say that she loved him? He was not surprised though with all the time they spent together over the past year and so, truth be told, he had grown quite attached to her as well, but you would not catch him admitting it to anyone…. Well almost anyone.

The monster let out a low growl. "Move, or I'll make you move!"

"If I die, you die!" She lunged at the monster, her kunai scraping across the scales of its head, leaving a trail of sparks. Unphased the beast just snapped her arms in its jaws and with a twist of its neck, sent her flying behind it, her body coming to rest against the barrier.

"But I can beat you to within an inch of your life!"

Okami used the jutsu summoned wall to help herself stand still, holding her kunai pointing at the hell hound in front of her.

"You're no match for me pup! A weapon like that wont work on me!"

"Maybe not," she turned the blade in her hand so the tip faced her, "but it will work just fine on me!"

The hell hound turned to face her fully. "You would not dare!" it snarled.

"I'm a shinobi of Konoha, I'm not afraid to die to protect it!" Her grip on the weapon tightened.

"You don't have the guts." It turned away making a move towards Kakashi.

"Don't under estimate me!"

Pulling her arm fast towards her she buried the kunai deep into her chest, piercing her heart. The jounins outside the barrier started to yell something. Unsure whether it was the wall or death that was slowly draining her senses, she could not tell what was being said. She fell onto her hands and knees, a small trail of blood dripped down the handle of the kunai in her chest. The demon stopped in its tracks, breath becoming ragged like Okami's. It lowered its head and threw up tar like blood before falling to its side.

Kakashi was able to see now that the hell hound was not blocking his vision. He strained against the earth trapping him when he saw the state Okami was in. The barrier flickered for a few moments then it remained steady, as to everyones horror the demon wolf got back up.

Okami had collapsed onto her side, everything seemed to surreal. Her body went numb, her hearing had left her, along with her voice. Her mouth felt dry even though she was sure it was filling with her own blood by now. The last thing to leave was her vision, but even that slowly darkened. The last thing she saw was the demon wolf staggering to its feet.

Footsteps echoed all around her, making it hard to pinpoint where they were coming from. They stopped and Okami opened her eyes to find she was lying on a lush green field, a far cry from the dusty battle scared arena grounds. There was a man crouching next to her. She could not see him properly due to the sunshine in her eyes.

"Well well, this was a bit unexpected, you must have really screwed up somewhere." The man chuckled to himself, his voice was known to Okami but she was almost afraid to say it.

"N-Nightshade?!" she asked hesitantly.

"The one and only." There was a brief silence between them. "You need to go back and kill that demon that they sealed inside of you. Only you can do it. You can't let that friend of yours with the odd eyes down right?"

"I-I can't."

"Yes you can," Nightshade said in a stern voice, "you have the power too, I already know what you can do."

He pulled the kunai out of her chest causing her to gasp like it was her very first breath of air.

"Now go and show it to that man you said only a few moments ago you love."

The demon looked over its shoulder at Okami's body and smirked. "The fool can't even die right."

It padded over to Kakashi, licking the exposed part of his face with its pale green serpent like tongue. "I'm going to enjoy this, as I said she always needs someone, so if your not around she has no choice but me."

Just then a snarl echoed from behind the demon.


	5. Chapter 5: New moon, new home

A new charge of chakra seemed to fill the air, as if some flood gate had been opened, the same way the air was charged when he would call on the Chidori. Something silver flashed in-between the jounin and the hell hound, followed by an anguished howl as one of its eyes had been neatly slashed out. As the beast staggered back, trying to come to terms with the pain and loss of the eye, a new wolf stood between Kakashi and the monster. It had fur of silver and eyes of platinum, but the thing that got his attention was the Konoha headband around its head.

"Don't worry sensei, I'll take this thing down." The voice it spoke with was nothing that Kakashi would think passable to come out of a wolf. It was angelic.

"Okami?!"

It flicked its tail cueing the tip to brush over Kakashi's cheek. Somehow he took that as a yes.

"By forcing my chakra though the blood of the wolf, it altered my body," it was not sure if she was speaking to Kakashi, the demon, or just anyone within hearing range, "this is not like a normal transformation jutsu, I'm a lot faster and stronger than in my human form."

The hell hound shook its head then settled its one eye's gaze on the silver wolf, hate burning in that brass eye.

"The wolf blood, then this must be" Kakashi thought to himself as he tried to free himself from the chakra imbued earth. "Kekkei Genkai, she must have unlocked it when she..." He stopped himself, he did not want to think of her burying that blade into her own heart.

"Your no match for me pup! I'm one hundred times stronger then you!"

It charged at her, fangs bared and hungry to taste silver fur. Okami shifted her weight around more onto her back legs and then pushing up on her front ones, she stood up like a bear would. The hell hound took this as an opening aiming at her stomach, shifting her body mass again she brought her paws down onto its head forcing its body down onto the ground in a sudden and violent stop.

"I told you before, don't underestimate me!"

The hell hound responded by pushing itself up and forwards. Okami lost the hold she had on it as the demon plunged its fangs into her torso throwing her to one side. Blood seeped out of the bite wound staining the white fur of her stomach dark crimson. The demon wandered over to her, its fangs revealed in some sort of sadistic smile, brass met platinum as there gazes met.

"I hate you Chu!" Okami finally growled out the hell hounds name, "I hate all that you are! All that you stand for!"

"I am you Okami, the dark side of you!" The scaled wolf still kept the sadistic grin on its lips.

"You're not!" she growled whilst getting back onto her feet, "you're what someone was trying to make me into."

The hell hound snapped its jaws at Okami, but was easily avoided. The fight went on, all the jounin watching had seen fights between nin-dogs before but this seemed even more brutal, Chu's thick scales turning aside Okami's fangs and the silver wolf to swift for the hell hounds claws. Okami kept her body between Chu and Kakashi.

Chu ran its serpent tongue over its fangs, single eye resting on the male shinobi still trapped in the earth jutsu then wandered back to its silver furred opponent. Its tongue now travelling up to where its right eye should be, the tip running along the edge of the empty eye socket tasting its own blood. New anger grew up inside it, it had been robbed of something needed and not easily replaced.

With a snarl Chu charged at Okami, who stood her ground and watched the incoming attack. It was aimed towards her left leg, seeing this she moved slightly to the right and prepared to counter, but then realised the attack was a fake. She cursed herself for falling for such a trick, she knew who its real target is.

"Kakashi!" she yelped.

The copy nin looked up at Okami's cry to see the hell hound charging towards him, pinned on his stomach as he was, he could barley move and using any jutsu was out of the question. The earth cracked before him as Okami leapt out in front of Chu, but she was unable to protect herself from the attack and the hell hound's jaws locked around the silver wolf's neck pinning her underneath the demon.

"I wont let you hurt him" she choked out as Chu's grip tightened.

"Fool!" Chu's voice was clear and unmuffled despite having her mouth full. "I did not want too, but I will just have to knock you out now."

Okami clawed at the hell hounds face, catching the still painful wound. With a yelp it let go of her neck, she quickly squirmed out from under it and stood over Kakashi, her fangs bared ready to attack if Chu took one step closer to them. The white fur of her underside was starting to turn crimson as blood was seeping out of the wounds on her stomach and neck. Kakashi could feel her body heat over him but what was more intense was the sense of bloodlust from her. The intent to kill was overwhelming to the point he had to wonder if it could be felt outside the cell.

"If I force more chakra though my blood I may get a better effect from this form but.." her eyes looking down to the shinobi pined under her. "I have no idea what will happen. Sensei could be injured or worse and I don't know if my body can take the strain for much longer." Just then she mentally chuckled to herself, still keeping the same snarling exterior. "Listen to me, someone who just stabbed herself in the heart is worried about dieing."

She then could not contain herself any longer and she laughed, her tail reflecting her mood as it waged, the demon's eye narrowed on her.

"What's so funny?" it growled.

Okami sat next to her sensei, tailing swishing back and forth in a steady rhythm. "Well it's just for me this is a win - win situation. I defeat you I'm free from you and you're no longer a threat to the village, or I push myself over my limit and I kill myself there by killing you too."

Chu growled at her counterpart wondering if it was a bluff, yes she had tried it before and it had unlocked her bloodline limit, but it was not totally convinced that she would do it.

"You will not die quick enough to stop me!" it snarled.

"But I know I'll do enough damage to you in the process to slow you down!"

Okami stood back up, and started to call on her chakra.

"Stop!" Kakashi hissed at her, "a draw is not a win!"

She looked down at him trying to smile but there was to much real sadness in her eyes, "I know sensei, but its better then a loss.." Her eyes flicked away from him for a brief moment before locking with his again, "And as I have all ready said I'm a shinobi of Konoha, I'm not afraid to die to protect it."

With that the silver wolf threw her head back and let out a howl so chilling it made the jounin outside flinch, the howl promised death to the enemies of Konoha.

Okami let go of her chakra and it was like when Lee opened up a gate, with a sound somewhere between a snarl and a roar the wolf's fur became awash with ethereal flames. Chu's eye widened in fear and it stepped back. Kakashi could see her body straining with the intense flow of chakra with his sharingan. This jutsu was going to kill her if it ran for to long.

In a flash Okami appeared behind the hell hound, the monster seemed to snap out of its fear and turned to attack but Okami's own attack seemed to catch up to it as the scales down its right side cracked and seemed to explode off its body, leaving a patch a raw and bloodied skin. Undeterred by the wound it launched another attack but just before it landed, Okami disappeared again.

Chu turned and readied herself for aa attack from behind but it did not come. It scanned the area around it. Nothing. But the shifting of light made it look up in time to see a flash of silver and its own dark blood as its left ear and horn was cut clean off. The beast felt its bottom jaw crack against the earth and burning pain in its fresh wound as the silver wolf's chakra started to bite.

Taking advantage of its dazed state Okami returned to Kakashi's side. He had been pinned down for too long, using both her fangs and chakra to cut she was able to free the trapped shinobi. Her body was already starting to feel the side effects of the jutsu. She would need help for the finishing blow, brushing himself off Kakashi went for a kunai.

"Wait sensei, I have an idea."

"What?"

"You have seen me use my beast mimicry techniques with your eye right?"

He nodded. "I have, so what's your plan?"

"Half-Beast clone."

Kakashi gave a small nod and a hum as Okami attacked Chu so he could get the jutsu off.

"Gijyuu ninpou: Shikyaku no jutsu!"

He dropped down to all fours, nails turning into claws, body shifting slightly under the jutsu. Okami returned to his side with a small nod signalling he was ready for the next stage. She jumped up onto his back the way Kiba's dog does. Now it was time for her to add her own twist to this jutsu, she let some of her chakra flow into her sensei, the ethereal flames washing over him like they where doing on Okami's fur.

Kakashi gasped when he felt the lupine chakra flow into his skin, he knew he had to hurry, making the necessary hand movements. He growled the jutsu's name, and in a flash of smoke the silver wolf on his back turned into him, mismatched eyes and all.

Gai closed his eyes and started to weep "How beautiful! Their fires of youth burn so brightly!!"

All eyes where now on the two feral Kakashis that had an aura of silver flames around them. The wounded hell hound backed up, hind legs pressed up against the barrier. Now standing side by side they shifted onto their feet. Slightly twisting the top halves of their bodies towards each other, clawed hands coming together, they pushed off of each other for better momentum.

"Gatsuuga!" they howled in unison.

Dust and debris was kicked up as the attack landed, no one could tell what had happened. Had the attack hit? The hell hound could use jutsu so had it managed to use replacement to get out of the way? All was silent for a moment until a crack was heard. Like glass shattering the crack spider webbed its way across the barrier and it started to disintegrate, shards falling away into the growing dust cloud. When the dust had cleared enough to see all eyes laid upon the two Kakashis. The silver flames had gone, but they were still feral looking. A few feet away was the corpse of the hell hound, body destroyed and melted like some wax model as it slowly started to turn into the tar-like liquid it was born from.

The real Kakashi threw his head back and let out a primal cry as the last of the lupine chakra left him. He collapsed onto his hands and knees as he turned back to normal. Okami was breathing heavily and her heart was skipping beats as her body was racked with pain. The jutsu had caught up with her.

She lowered her head and started to cough up blood, her legs gave way under her, but before she hit the ground Kakashi was on his knees next to her and had pulled her into his lap, arms wrapped around her as he watched her chakra fade away with the Sharingan.

"Okami" he whispered shaking the wolf's battered body in hopes of trying to keep her conscious, but her eyes slowly closed.

"Okami!" he shouted this time.

"I-I'm sorry m-my weakness put you all in danger." her voice was weak and horse.

Gai kneeled by the copy nin and the silver wolf. The memory of when he stepped in to stop Gaara's attack to save Lee flashed into his mind. He took the wolf's mew in his hand feeling the softness of her fur and the dieing warmth of her breath their eyes meet. Part of the silver wolf was jealous of the bond the green clad sensei had with Lee, she wanted to have that bond with someone.

"It's not to late to have that bond you know" a foreign voice charmed inside her mind as her eyes fluted closed and her chest ceased to rise.

"NO! Okami!!" Kakashi's eyes grow wide as panic starting to seep into his voice.

He pulled the wolf's limp body up to his chest, shaking her gently and rubbing a hand up and down her side and back. Medic-nins rushed up to the shinobi trying to pry the wolf from his grasp, but his grip was too strong, he shot a murderous glare at any who tried to take her even growling at any that got too close.

"Stop it! Unless your trying to kill her, he is the only thing keeping her alive." A white robed ANBU said as he walked towards them. He knelt by the two green chakra forming around his hand.

"She is trying to stay alive, and you are willing her to stay alive to the point your feeding her chakra even though you may not realise it."

Kakashi looked down at the wolf in his arms, his fingers griping even tighter into her fur. "Stay alive" he whispered.

Okami found herself in a plain of darkness, nothing other than a black floor and empty black space, she was sitting on her knees, human in form. A few miles in front of her was what appeared to be a full moon, but it looked like to be a black and white picture, with a gash running across it, like someone had slashed it.

"So this is what the gates of hell look like eh?"

She sighed. "I'm getting bored of this." talking to no one.

She felt something tug on her torso. Looking down she saw a thin silver thread wrapped around her body, looking behind her she saw it lead off into the darkness, away from the broken moon, looking back at the moon she knew Chu was waiting for her on the other side. She had truly died this time, the thread tugged on her with surprising force, looking back at it she saw that it was pulled taut. If she wanted to move forwards she would have to cut it.

So here she was again, hovering between life and death but she knew that Nightshade would not be appearing to push her in a direction, it was truly up to her. Now one would think the choice between life and death would be easy, but here was Okami pondering living or hell with her demon self, she was a freak, a lab rat left discarded, and when she had found a new home, she ended up endangering it.

Her mind wondered to her demon side, Chu. She knew Chu was a fake name just given to help make her trust it, the word Chu meant loyalty to ones friends, family and comrades. That THING was loyal to no one but itself.

The slight gleam of a metallic object caught her eye. A kunai. More pressed, a blood covered kunai, most likely the one she used to end her life before. She chuckled to herself, the thing was sodden with her blood and had become damned with her. Picking it up she span it on the end of her finger. She stood there thinking things through. Stopping the kunai's spin she wondered, what was giving her the option to stay alive? Nightshade had already give her one go at life again so it was not him. Who? Who wanted her to live so badly?

"Sensei?"

The man may have always seemed to be a hard ass to others, a powerful stoic man. But his team knew a different side of him, a man who did not show feelings yes, but you could tell that they were there now and again, and he would blame him self if anyone on his team was injured.

Another tug and a grin crossed her lips.

"All right I'm coming."

She turned and followed the thread, thick blood started to flow out of the wounded moon, more and more, faster and faster it flowed, forming into a large clawed hand that shot after the shinobi. In a flash she turned and had cut a gash across the palm. The thing screamed and recoiled, she threw the kunai at it and hit it in the wrist and it retreated back into the wound.

"Sorry, maybe next time." with that she shot off with all her speed, back to life.

Kakashi sat there and sighed, his book bringing no comfort to the troubled man as he watched the sleeping shinobi. Feeling more restless he stood up and went to stand by her bed, dropping his book down in his chair. He looked over her, Okami had an oxygen mask on and was hooked up to monitors and drips. He ran a finger down her metal arm wondering what sort of feeling, if any, she had in them.

He took her steel hand in his, using his thumb to flex her fingers, watching the movements of the metal. And again wondering if she could feel it if she was conscious. Stepping away and letting her hand go he moved towards the window looking over the battle damaged village, his gazed fixed on his own hand running fingers over the window ledge and glass taking in the feeling of it under his skin. He then pulled his glove off and flexed his fingers watching the tendons and bones move under the skin.

How easy was it to replace living skin with cold unfeeling metal? Both morally and latterly, about as easy as giving a human wolf's blood, or turning a man into a pain crazed demon he mused. Slipping his glove back on his mind went over what he read in the report when they had finished torturing the two from Okami's former life.

It made part of him sick, to think someone could do such things to a fellow human who trusted them. He would have to go and pay them a "friendly visit" when things had quieted down. There was a change in the steady blip of the heart monitor that drew Kakashi's attention, his own heart jumping in time with the sound.

Okami could feel the all to familiar sensation of the mask on her face, her heart started to race as memories of the last time she had that feeling on her face rushed into her mind. Finding new strength in her arms she rose a shaking hand up and removed it, opening her eyes as much as the pain from the bright light would let her she saw the drips attached to her and went to take them off to but a hand stopped her.

"You should leave that."

She looked up at the person the voice belonged too and sighed in relief when her eyes fell upon her sensei's masked face, still holding onto her hand he sat on the edge of the bed.

"You gave us quite a scare there, you died two times in one day." His voice had a serious edge to it, even though he tried to soften it with a smile.

She smiled back. "Death does its best to avoid my company," a dull ache shot though her body, "suffering seems to like me just fine though."

He razed a eyebrow. "Was that a joke?" He grinned.

She did her best to scowl at him. "No." But there was no be leaving that.

He chuckled. "So that was a joke."

He was rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand, she notes this and quietly watched the movement of his hand on her, which in turn did not go unnoticed by him.

"Can you feel that?"

She looked into his eye before bringing her gaze back down to their hands.

"Sort of, it's like having numb hands and arms, but I only got that sort of feeling back when I started to train my chakra, I can't feel pain or heat though which is a blessing I guess."

"Really?" he trend her hand so it was palm up, and started to draw circles on it and watched her fingers twitch slightly, "fascinating."

He trailed his finger down her arm to the nook of her elbow, but did not go any farther as he was stopped by Okami's grip on his arm. He looked up to meet her eyes.

"Thank you sensei, for keeping me alive and I'm sorry." She looked away with a look on her face he had seen her wear too many times lately, the look of shame. He knew that she was ashamed of her faltering weakness that allowed her seal to brake.

"Don't be, there's nothing for you to be sorry for."

She looked at him again, she was unsure at what he was getting at. "Kakashi-sensei I…" She stopped and her brow furrowed. "Sensei do I, do I have a tail?"

He grinned sheepishly though his mask at her and scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "Ummm well you see, you would not turn back from your wolf form even after your heart stopped beating for a moment, so we had to use some jutsu to force you to turn back."

"So that would be a yes then?" She grinned trying to hide how awkward she felt in knowing she had another inhuman feather.

"I'm sure you will be able to fix it, if not I can teach you a genjutsu to help you hide it."

She sighed and sunk back into the bed, trying to get around the idea of having to work with a tail. There was a growing silence between them. Kakashi had not moved from his position on the bed.

"How long have I been out?" she asked at length.

"Three days."

"Three days?!"

It really did not feel like three days for her, maybe a day, but three?

"How is everyone? Did they get to Sasuke all right?"

"They are fine but…" he trailed off and looked away from her. "Lord Hokage died."

"W-What!" He felt the hold on his arm tighten slightly.

She wanted to ask how, but part of her did not want to know. A powerful ninja like the Hokage dead?

He freed his arm from her now slackened grip. He ruffled her hair like he would do with the others and it seemed to bring her out of the daze she had fallen into, the hand then found its place on her cheek.

"I'm glad your alive." He had a look in his eye that was new to Okami and his voice had a new softness to it.

Gently he started to pull the needles from the drips out of skin and unhooked her from the monitors, careful not to set of any alarms. When she was free from all the medical equipment he picked up a backpack that had been resting by the bed, hidden from her line of sight. He pulled out one of his old back shirts and a pair of black pants he would normally wear.

"Here put this on, your stuff was ruined from the fight." He placed the clothes over her legs and stood up facing the door. He looked over his shoulder at her. "Don't worry I wont look."

She slipped out from under the sheets wearing nothing but the paper like overalls from the hospital, she looked behind her and there it was, a light grey and white furred tail that came down to her knees. Pulling on the pants and fumbling to get her tail into one of the baggy pants leg her mind wandered back over what had happened in her time in Konoha. She had changed a lot. No longer beaten and constantly injected with drugs to make her a mindless puppet.

But she did not really want to think to much about it now, she quickly whipped off the overalls and slipped on the shirt finding that it had an attached mask, pulling it down she heard a chuckle from the shinobi at the door.

"That looks uncomfortable." He pointed at her tail, that was being unwillingly confined into the back of her pants.

She gave him a small smile and shrugged. "Not much I can do about it." she said as she tightened on her headband.

"Stay still." Kakashi said as he pulled out a kunai and moved behind her.

She heard the sound of the blade cutting though the fabric followed by a gentle tug on her tail as Kakashi threaded it though the newly made hole, and she had to admit it did feel a lot better. But she tensed and shifted nervously as now everyone would be able to see it.

"There much better." He smiled though his mask.

"Thank you sensei, but… umm." She shifted again, Kakashi knew what was going though her mind.

Cupping her chin in his hand he made her look at him. "Listen Okami, don't let yourself feel less human just because of the wolf tail. I have seen others with a lot worse, longer and less..." he paused thinking for the right word, "elegant tails than yours, to horns and extra arms. Some high level jutsu had side effects like that so as you're a ninja people wont think anything of it."

Looking over her, he could see her relax a bit then an idea came to him. If she did not want anyone looking at her tail, then he would do something to draw there eyes away from it. Hooking his fingers into the mask bunched up around her neck he pulled it up to cover the bottom half of her face, he then pulled down her headband to cover her left eye and ran his hands though her hair to make it stand up in a unruly mass like his.

Stepping back he looked her over, and could not help but smile when Gai and Lee popped into his mind, Okami now looked a lot like Kakashi, the way that Lee looks like his own sensei. Yep he thought to himself, no one will pay any attention to her tail now.

She realised what he was doing and why.

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei, for everything I mean" she said trying to resist razing her headband back up.

He tilted his head to one side and gave her a happy eye crease. "Think nothing of it Okami, I hold you as my little ray of moonlight."

He could have sworn she was blushing if it was not for the mask covering her face. But he could easily judge how that comment affected her as her tail was wagging furiously. He wondered, were those the first real words of affection she ever got? The only other feeling of love that she had felt was companionship for her old team-mates, but he knew that was not even a shadow of what the feeling should be, but he could ponder it later. He knew how hospitals made her feel it was time to leave.

"Lets go, before they catch us." Kakashi nodded towards a open window.

Kakashi grabbed his book and bag and slipped out the window, closely followed by Okami. He tried to keep his pace slow as they went from roof to roof, knowing he could not push her body hard. Well really he knew she should not be out at all, but he had sneaked out after worse.

"After worse? How could it get any worse than dieing?" he recoiled to himself. As soon as they had got her to the hospital her heart had stopped for a full 3 minutes. He looked back at her, she was keeping up well and did not look tired or in pain as she moved.

The village still smelt like blood, Okami could smell it everywhere. A normal sense of smell would not have picked that up. Looking down to the streets used by the civilians, she could see everyone making repairs, other ninjas on patrol or getting ready for missions or training. Looking ahead to Kakashi she saw him stop and she came to a halt right behind him.

They had come to an area not far from Kakashi's apartment that was less crowded. Dropping down to the pavement he signaled Okami to follow him. Walking down the roads she could hear people talking about them now and again, but to her surprise her tail was not mentioned once.

After evading medic-nins for a week, they grudgingly accepted that she was going to be as stubborn and sneaky as her sensei and stay out of the hospital as much as she could, even though the village elders, who were standing in till a new Hokage was found had taken her off missions for another two weeks till she was fully healed.

Even though she could not take on missions, the rest of Team Kakashi could which meant she was left alone most of the time. She used this time well, perfecting the transformation of her Kekkei Genkai, the more she used the jutsu, the less strain it took on her body but she still could not undo the tail.

A few weeks later, a silver-grey wolf padded into the village after returning from her first mission in some time. It was a simple D rank, running a scroll to another team about a days travel from them. Her new found speed allowed her to travel faster than most. She concluded that she would be getting a lot of solo missions like this.

A new scent caught her attention on the wind. It smelt...dangerous, making her fur stand on end. She sprinted off following the new scent, a gentle click now again from her claws on the cobbled road the only sound she made as her wolven form ran though the streets. She knew she was getting closer, the scent which she thought was one was really two. Two new scents one smelling more dangerous than the other, and two others. Four people, two strangers, Asuma and the last scent was.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

She could see them now. Kakashi was standing on the water facing off against another ninja wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it. Asuma, who had his back to Okami, was fighting the another ninja, she could see he had the same cloak and what appeared to be pale blue-grey skin. Trying to take in the situation as quick as she could, Kakashi seemed fine for the moment but Asuma was being overpowered by his opponents weapon.

In a flash she had darted around Asuma and sunk her fangs into the other ninjas right wrist. Hanging onto his arm she got a good look at his face, his mist headband had a slash across it, marking him as a rouge ninja. She noted what appeared to be gills on his cheeks, and also saw his teeth where all pointed. Tightening her jaws in his arm blood trickled into her mouth. It tasted fowl, like rotten fish, this man was part shark.

"Ohh I though we were going to have a problem then, but it's just a mangy dog!" he said mockingly.

Okami's attack had done nothing to deter him, as he pushed down, the tip of his weapon touching Asuma's shoulder.

"Samehada does not cut! It shaves!" the shark man grinned as he pulled the sword towards him.

The wrappings around the blade tore revealing what appeared to be rows upon rows of grey shark teeth as they cut into Asuma's shoulder, latterly shaving away cloth and skin. Hoping to try and get the rouge mist ninja unbalanced Okami channeled chakra to her paws to try and drag him down, but a blow to her ribs snuffed it out. Gasping for breath she let go.

Not knowing if it was the way she fell or if the ninja attacked, she felt Samehada "shave" her left side. There was a large gash from the top of her left hind leg up her side to the top of her front. Pain shot though her as he hit the ground. The cut was not deep, but she could tell some ribs where broken.

"Kisame." the other ninja called to the shark like man, his voice sounded bored.

Kisame used a jutsu and teleported himself next to the other ninja, Okami and Asuma stood by Kakashi's side on the water. She could not get a good look at the other ninja. Unlike his partner he had no resemblance to any animal. He had long black hair and dark eyes, that looked oddly familiar to her, but it was when she saw his headband that rage over took the pain in her body, it was a leaf headband.

"Itachi!" she snarled even louder after she realised who it was.

Itachi just sighed and closed his eyes. "We did not come here to fight, get out of our way." His voice was bland, opening his eyes Sharingan ablaze in them.

"Close your eyes!" Kakashi barked, urgency in his voice.

Asuma and Okami did as told, Itachi muttered something and Kakashi fell to his knees in a cry of pain, his heavy breathing echoed in Okami's ears. Hearing the splash and feeling the sloshing of the water she knew he was sinking under.

"Sensei!" Okami whimpered.

"Kakashi what happened!" Asuma asked, still keeping eyes closed.

Another splash as someone landed on the water, they heard Kakashi gasp for air as he was pulled up.

"You two open your eyes but look at their feet, the Sharingan can't affect you if your not making eye contact." It was Gai.

"Makes sense." Asuma muttered.

Okami kept her eyes on Itachi's legs, after having to fight blind, she knew she could do this, the adrenalin in her body overriding all pain from her wound.

"Okami take Kakashi and get out of here." Gai's tone was more serious than Okami was used to hearing from the green clad ninja. "You're wounded and still only a Genin, but you're the fastest of us here."

Without another word Gai placed Kakashi on Okami's back, and in a flash the wolf was gone.

She kept to the roofs heading to the hospital, it was true that with her wolf form she was a lot faster, but she had neglected in training with anything on her back and the bulk of her sensei was starting to hinder her speed.

Kakashi barely clung onto consciousness, drifting off but abruptly coming back when his hand or arm would bump into something. The only real thing he could take in was Okami's movements under him. Her footfalls where light and kept and steady rhythm as she made her way to safety, only broken now again from a jerk of her front left leg as the wound sapped the strength from it.

Feeling another's chakra, Okami knew they where being followed. In one fluid movement she came to a stop, slid Kakashi off her back gently and turned to who ever was following; ears fluted and fangs beard. But to her surprise it was not Kisame or Itachi as she had feared but.

"Genma-sensei!"

Genma looked shocked, not knowing what was the worst part about this. Okami with her Kekkei Genkai active, blood around her moth and a large gash running down her left side, or the unconscious Kakashi she was protecting.

"What the hell happened!?" he asked as he picked up Kakashi.

Canceling her jutsu a human Okami stood next to him, helping him carry Kakashi.

"I'll tell you later, we need to get Kakashi-sensei help first."

Okami stood next to Kakashi's hospital bed holding his hand. Gai, Asuma and Genma were there as well. It was well known that after the events in the Chunnin exam they had become closer. Okami had pulled her mask up to cover the dried blood on her face. She tried to remain calm like the other shinobi around her, but there was too much rage and sadness whirling around inside her. So she let rage take the foreground, an angry visage seemed more acceptable.

Gai looked at her wound as it glistened in the light, the frayed edges of the fabric clinging to her skin with her own dried blood. She had refused all treatment on it, unwilling to leave her sensei's side. He could sympathise with her thinking of his own injured student.

"You should get that wound looked after." It was Asuma that spoke up.

"I'm fine, it does not even hurt anymore." she lied.

"Don't blame yourself Okami, he took a mental attack from Mangekyo Sharingan, the ultimate power of the Sharingan. There's nothing you could have done." Gai's voice was low as he stood next to Okami.

"No, I could of attacked his eyes as soon as I realised who he was, or used my Nightmare Clone jutsu, or I could have…" she trailed off knowing the other jounin's would not want to hear.

"Taken the attack for him?" it was Genma that spoke.

Okami nodded.

"Do you really think he would have wanted that?" Gai sighed.

Before she could think of an answer someone came running in, it was Sasuke. It seems bad news travels fast.

"What happened?" he asked wide eyed looking as his sensei.

Everyone looked away from him, knowing better then to tell him his older brother was in Konoha, he walked towards the bed to get a better look at Kakashi, seeming to ignore his team-mate that stood there.

Their eyes were drawn towards the door again as another ninja came running in.

"Is it true that Itachi was here and he is after Naruto?" the idiot blurted out before taking in who was in the room.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he pushed his way past the ninja at the door running off to find his brother.

"Idiot!" Genma spat as the ninja sulked off, knowing what he had just done.

All was quiet for a moment. "My mind is different when I'm a wolf, it's hard to get Genjutsu to work on me, it may not have affected me." Okami said, voice quiet as her anger was fading and sorrow creeping in.

"Kakashi got off lightly as he has the Sharingan, you could have died." Gai said, putting a hand on Okami's shoulder.

"If it would have saved Kakashi I don't care, he is a better shinobi then I could ever be."

Gai shook his head and squeezed the pressure point his hand was resting on, causing Okami to pass out. He easily caught her as she fell, laying her down on a row of chairs.

"She is wrong, but you can't get though to her in the state she is in." Genma said.

Gai nodded. "They are so alike, she blames herself so much for being unable to protect someone dear to her."

"Hopefully Naruto and Jiraiya will be back soon with Tsunade, and with luck they wont run into them." Genma said as he bit his senbon.

But things did not look well when a day later Gai returned to the village with Sasuke in his arms, in the same Sharingan induced coma as Kakashi. Sakura was all over him as soon as he returned unwilling to leave his side just like Okami with Kakashi. But the wolf blooded ninja did leave to go on missions, whilst Sakura stopped going on missions and training all together.

Okami was making her way to Kakashi's room after returning from her latest mission when she passed by Sasuke's, the door partly open. She could see her pink haired friend asleep in her chair, leaning to one side looking very uncomfortable. She slipped into the room and straightened Sakura up, the sleeping girl shifted with the movement and started to come around from her slumber.

"S-Sensei?" she mumbled eyes still heavily from sleep.

"Try again."

Sakura's eyes shot open as soon as she realised the lack of the green jounin vest and the two eyes meant it was not him, "Oh, hi Okami, sorry about that." she blushed.

"Don't worry about it" she grinned as she pulled down the mask.

"Shouldn't you be with Kakashi-sensei?"

Okami nodded. "I'm heading back there now, I just came back from a mission."

Sakura scowled at her "You left him to go on a mission!"

"I had no choice."

"That's a lie Okami! You know you could turn down the mission!" Sakura tried to restrain herself from yelling, scowling at her she crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't love him as much as I thought."

To Okami that hurt much more then any cut ever did, she balled her hands into fists and gritted her teeth.

"We are shinobi Sakura!" the Wolf-Nin growled. "Rule # 25, I will not sit by when Konoha needs me, even if its for a lowly D rank task!"

With that Okami turned and walked out, stopping at the door. "Anyway, I don't think sensei would want us to sit here and let all that he had taught us go to waste."

Sakura looked at her team-mates back, quietly, Okami's tail was stiff with anger, so she said nothing as the Wolf-Nin left.

Okami quietly slipped into the room. Leaning against the door she sighed, then wandering over to the sleeping ninja she pulled one of the chairs right next to the head of the bed, sitting down she folded her arms on the bed by Kakashi shoulder and rested her chin on top.

"Hey sensei, I'm back," she watched his chest rise and fall with every breath. "It went off without a problem."

She stayed quiet for a moment, the only sound was Kakashi's breathing, wondering if he could really hear her. They always say that people in comas can hear everything that is said to them.

"Sakura is mad at me for leaving your side to do missions," she sighed, "but would you really want me to stay here when I'm needed in the field?"

She sighed again, not really knowing what to do herself. Konoha had to take all missions offered to it in order to keep itself strong, she was trying to help all parties as mush as she could. Her mind drifting off the question plaguing her thoughts as she drifted off into sleep between missions and watching over her sensei, she had neglected her own need for rest.

She shifted her arms as she heard mumbling, well what sounded to her as mumbling, a female and a male voice, one sounded familiar the other did not, "Must be the doc doing his rounds" she concluded to her self as she tried to drift of back into a deeper sleep. Then a third voice chimed in. It sounded like Gai but in her sleeping state she could not tell what he was saying.

They left and all was quiet again, but something was different. Hearing movement training took over she jumped back now fully alert and hand going for a kunai in the sheath on her leg, but she stopped when she saw him. Kakashi was awake!

"K-Kakashi-sensei!"

"I see you're improving even in my absence." he smiled though his mask, voice husky with sleep.

He signalled her to come towards him. When she was in arms reach he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, slipping his arm other around her waist. Holding her in a tight embrace Okami was stunned for a moment, but then she returned the hug, sitting on the bed next to him so they could get a better hold on one another.

Okami felt something on her face, brushing it off she looked at her hand to see a glimmer of a tear.

"A-A tear? Why am I crying? I'm not feeling sad."

Kakashi chuckled as he whipped her face with his hand. "You did everything right, and don't worry about Sakura she gets mad at anyone when Sasuke is injured."

"You could hear me then?"

"Every word." He rested his head on her shoulder. "You talk a lot when I'm the only one around."

She did not know what to say, but she did not need to say anything, the silence grew between them. The only sound was their own breathing and people walking down the corridor out side. He pulled back a little to look her in the eyes. He leaned forward again, the Wolf-Nin froze as his masked lips brushed hers, but she started to relax as a hand cradled the back of her neck, as he pressed his lips more firmly on to hers he could feel her grip on him tighten.

They unwillingly parted the kiss, the beating of their hearts seemed to be mimicked in the thumps of Okami's tail, but something out of place did not spoil the moment. Again Okami found herself speechless and like before words where not needed, the quiet saying much more then there voices ever could.

Sighing, Okami leaned back onto Kakashi's chest as they watched the festivity's below from there roof. Everyone was celebrating the coming on the fifth Hokage. Tsunade, a grate medical ninja. It was times like this that Okami and Kakashi seemed alike more then ever, both of them would prefer a quieter setting then the hustle and bustle of a party. Wrapping his arms around her he ran his hand down her left side, over the scar that ran the length of her body. Kisame's parting gift.

"We restart missions again as a team tomorrow right?" Okami asked as he let her head fall back against Kakashi's shoulder.

"Hmm." was his only reply, meaning yes.

"The Hokage wants to see me tomorrow, I think I'm going to be taken out of your care."

He rested his chin of her shoulder "You will never be out of my care."

She knew it was true. When she first arrived, nothing more then a half-dead outsider, taken into Konoha by the good will of the third, she was put under the watchful eye of Kakashi by order. To make sure she adjusted well and to make sure her intentions where true. But like with her team, he had made the mission his own.

There was a knock on the Hokage's door.

"Come in." the blond haired woman said looking up from the scroll laid out across her desk.

The wolf-nin walked in making so little noise that all in the room thought they went deaf for a moment.

"Ahh. Okami." she smiled.

Bowing to the Hokage, her movements showing the grace of a shinobi far more advanced then her current rank. It seemed the rumours of her drastically intensifying her training were true. Okami quickly glanced around the room, there where a lot of Chuunin and a few Jounin, too many to just be the Hokage's guards.

"Now Okami." The Hokage started taking some papers and flipping though them. "You came to Konoha over a year ago now, the only survivor of demon hunters." Her brow furrowed as she read the old report, "It says you were unable to return, care to elaborate?"

"Simply put Lady Hokage, after the mission I was of not further use to them, I would have been regarded as an inconvenience and killed on sight." Okami's voice was bland, but they could tell that the words left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Killed? After how many years of service?"

"20, Lady Hokage, from my training to when I was sent away."

The blond woman raised an eyebrow, "I see." She wrote something down on the report. "You are now no longer under Kakashi's care, you are a free shinobi." she said with a grin on her face.

Okami knew what she meant by "free", she no longer had to put up with being watched and could live on her own if she so desired.

"Now then." She put away the paper and went back to the scroll. "Some people think that as the Chunnin exams where interrupted no one should pass, but due to the actions of two shinobi, I will be promoting you and one other." She gave the wolf-nin a warm smile before writing something down on the scroll.

"M-me?" Okami was stunned.

"Yes after what you did at the stadium, you have shown yourself worthy of being a Chunnin."

Okami caught the green vest thrown at her from non other then Genma.

"Thank you." she said humbly as she bowed.

"Come on Kakashi-sensei lets go!" Naruto groaned as he paced up and down the brig.

"We can't Naruto, Okami is not here yet!" Sakura huffed.

"But she is even later then sensei!" the golden haired ninja groaned.

"Anyway she does not even have a mission with us." It was Sasuke that spoke.

"Huh? She doesn't?" Naruto blinked at the raven haired boy.

"He is right Naruto, she has another mission, I just thought you would all like to wish each other luck before we all started." Kakashi said, not looking up from his book.

Naruto was about to retort but then something ticked over in his mind and a sly smile crept across his face.

"Oh I see sensei." he grinned as he held up his fist with the small finger extended.

Kakashi's only reply was a swift smack over the top of Naruto's head with his book.

"Be glad, Naruto, that it was the book rather then Thousand years of pain." Okami grinned seeing the golden haired boy get hit.

The four turned to look at Okami who was standing at the end of the bridge wearing her new Chunnin vest.

"You got promoted! No way!" Naruto yelled pointing at the wolf-nin.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed obviously not happy with this.

Sakura, noting Sasuke's shift in mood realised what was wrong, "Don't worry Sasuke, I'm sure you will be promoted after we get back from our mission," she smiled at him before looking up at her sensei trying to confirm her hope "right Kakashi-sensei?"

Said Jounin just shrugged "Congratulations Okami." he smiled at the wolf-nin.

"Ya, way to go Okami." Naruto grinned.

Sasuke just huffed and looked away, acting like the whole thing was beneath him.

Okami walked past the group, turning on the tip of her right foot to look back at them in her wolf form, all but Kakashi blinked in surprise, they had known about her blood limit but had not seen it, there was no puff of jutsu smoke, in a blink of an eye she was replaced with a wolf.

But this was the first time they got a look at her scars, the furless patches were clear, the long line running down her left side, but more was the diamond shape scar on her chest.

"Let us see who can get back from our missions first." she grinned before saying her good byes and shooting off.

"WE WILL BE DONE DAYS BEFORE YOU! BELIEVE IT!!" Naruto yelled at the disappearing figure.

"Hey, did you see that scar on her chest?" Sakura asked the others.

Naruto looked thought for a moment "Oh ya, the one that looked like a diamond, what about it?"

"Idiot," Sasuke spat "don't you recognise the shape?"

"I already said it looked like a diamond!" he growled.

Sasuke just sighed. "Think about what can make a scar like that."

Naruto looked confused for a moment before Sakura smacked him on the head. "Look at your kunai!"

Naruto rubbed the sore spot on his head. "My kunai?" he looked at the weapon before turning to his sensei "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Lets go," he said closing his book, "or she will get back before we will."

Their attention redirected, the group started there mission.

It seemed darker in Konoha tonight, or maybe it was Kakashi's mood, ya most likely his mood, he had just broken up a fight that got out of hand between Sasuke and Naruto. They would of killed each other if he had not stopped it, but it was Sasuke's words that where troubling him more then anything.

"What would you do if I killed Okami?"

Kakashi found his pace quickened by itself, he knew she was back in Konoha, a side effect of when they shared chakra it seems, abandoning the streets for the faster path of the roof tops.

"Yo!" he greeted the wild blooded ninja as he entered his apartment.

"Welcome back" she smiled to him with a happy wag of her silvery tail.

She had her back to him standing on the balcony, her Chunnin vest was slung over the back of the sofa, unzipping his jounin vest it joined hers as he made his way over to her, wrapping his arms around her he pressed himself up against her back and placed a light kiss on her cheek. Turning her head slightly she nuzzled the side of his face.

"Tell me, my little cub, how can you die twice and still fight on?" he whispered to her.

She placed a light kiss on the side of his masked lips, "Let's just say, it's how the wolf howls."


End file.
